Somos Primos

DECEMBER 2012
147rd Online Issue

Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-2011

Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues

Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, 1883 by Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904)

More martyrs for Jesus Christ died in the 20th century than in all previous 19 centuries combined. 
The world is more anti-Christian than ever since the first centuries in Rome.   
Click for more on the subject: 

United States
Witness to Heritage
Hispanic Leaders
National Issues
Health Issues 
Action Item
Business
Culture
Education

Literature
Libreria Martinez de Chapman 
Children's Books
Books
Latino Patriots
Early Latino Patriots
Surnames
Cuentos
Family History

Indigenous
Archaeology
Sephardic
African-American
Caribbean/Cuba
Central & South America
The Philippines
Spain
International

Letter to the Editor: 

Our Lacy of Guadalupe: Tonantzin

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

December 12, 1531

©Albert V Vela, PhD

cristorey@comcast.net

December 1, 2012

Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the original

In 1945, Pope Pius XII proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas (Poole, p. 12). Then in 2002 Pope John Paul II canonized the person to whom the Virgin Mary appeared, Juan Diego (1474-1548) (p. 12). An average of 15,000 persons visit Guadalupe daily, second only to the Vatican. Other famous Marian apparitions are at Lourdes, Fatima, La Salette, Montserrat, and Medjugorje. Her image was imprinted in the tilma when Juan Diego, who was carrying roses he cut in the month of December at Tepeyac hill, opened his tilma in front of Bishop Zumárrago. The heavenly flowers were the sign that the bishop had requested of the Lady as proof that she was the Mother of God, and that she was truly the one who wanted him to build a sanctuary there at Tepeyac Hill.

www.catholic.org/saints  November 23, 2012      

Catherin Robles Shaw and Roxanne Shaw Galindo 
 metepec@aol.com Santa Fe, New Mexico 
(Courtesy Catherine Robles Shaw, November 20, 2012)

The image is a painting that scientists are unable to explain its phenomena: the unknown pigments of the colors, the twenty-year life span of the tilma whose fabric was made from the maguey plant, the appearance of life in the Lady’s eyes, the symbols in the image, the reflection of persons in her eyes, how the painting seems to hang or float over the tilma. As for the tilma, it measures four feet wide by some seven feet long.  

Tomantzin is the Nahuatl term that means “Nuestra madre”/Our mother. The Toltecs adored Tomantzin, the mother of the gods, in a temple precisely on the hill of Tepeyac about three and a half miles distant from Tenochtlitan/Mexico. Writing in 1576 about the cult of Tonantzin Guadalupe, Fray Bernardino de Sahagún recorded:

Tepeyac Hill is where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to the Indian Juan Diego. It must be understood that belief in a supreme being was part and parcel of daily life for the Indians. As for the Toltecs, they disagreed with the Aztecs about human sacrifice (León-Portilla, 1997, pp 31-32); León-Portilla, 1991/2009, pp. 36-37.

Artistic Representation of Tenochtitlan/Mexico City 1500s

The Nican Mopohua

 Nican Mopohua pub. by Luis de la Vega, 1649        
(Demarest & Taylor, The Dark Virgin, 1956, p. 52;
León-Portilla, Tonantzin Guadalupe, 2002, p. 20)

Engraving in Booklet “Felicidad de México” printed in Mexico, 1675

True likeness of Juan Diego
 Anonymous Oil Painting,  ca. 1750s 
  In Museum of the Basilica   
Find in www.sancta.org/gallery

Our Lady, the Mother of God appears to Juan Bernardino in the Fifth Apparition in 1531.  She reveals her name as Tecuauhtlazupe (la que viene volando de la luzcomo el águila de fuego.  Some believe that Guadalupe was the name the Bishop’s servants heard Juan Bernardo say but that it was really Tecuauhtlazupe

The Nican Mopohua pub. by Luis Laso de la Vega in 1549.  
 Story of the Virgin’s Apparitions printed in Nahuatl.

Codex Tetlapalco in The Dark Virgin
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York City  

Dr Enrique Graue y Díaz González  
     Mexican Ophthamologist  

The Nahuatl word tilma comes from tilmatli. A tilma is a cloak or mantle made of course fabric from maguey.  It’s what Juan Diego was wearing that icy morning of December 12, 1531. While the common people used fabric of maguey, Indian nobles used cotton materials to dress themselves. The figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe that got imprinted on the Juan Diego’s tilma measures 1.43 meters in height. The tilma is made of two pieces that come together longitudinally at the center, held by a soft cotton thread. It’s so fragile looking that it’s surprising that this thread has borne the weight of two pieces for almost 500 years.  

The seam doesn’t go through the Lady’s face because it’s slightly turned to the right. Those who have had the privilege of examining the tilma without glass that protects it, and of touching it with utmost care, the first thing that impresses you is its extraordinary preservation considering its age and the innumerable faithful who touched it in the early years, It was left unprotected for 138 years during which the image was exposed to humidity and the smoke of thousands of candles and incense (González, 1981, p. 116; Demarest & Taylor, 1956, p. 10).  

One will also note is that the fabric does not appear to be painted. It’s as if the tilma is impregnated by color or as if the colors cling to the tilma. Some have observed that the image can be clearly seen from its back as from its front. Yet another extraordinary thing is that the material is totally unprepared to be painted on. For a painting to be accomplished, the material must be prepared, no matter the type of material used. Considering this important fact and in view of the coarseness or crudeness of the fabric, it seems impossible that such a masterpiece was realized.  

In 1936 two fibers from the image were sent to Dr Ricardo Kuhn, Director of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. One of the fibers was red; the other, yellow. The idea was for him to analyze the nature of their pigments. In his opinion, rendered without knowing the source of the fabrics, was that “. . .in the fabrics analyzed, one red and the other yellow, no vegetable colorings nor colorings from minerals exist.”  

In two studies (1954 and 1963) by professor Francisco Camps Ribera from Barcelona, a worldwide painting, his concluded, “. . .I was unable to find evidence of brush marks.” He added, “[N]o human artist would have chosen, to paint a work of art of this magnitude, a fabric or canvas made of ayate [crude maguey fabric], and much less on a fabric with a seam down its center.”  

The Image Described. The Lady is standing and measures 1.43 meters high. She’s resting on a darkened half moon. Below the moon an angel holds the Lady’s mantle, his wings have the colors of the Mexican flag: green, white and red. Our Lady is wearing a tunic, a girdle/band and a mantle. Her tunic is soft colored rose decorated by seventy arabesque symbols that look like flowers and buds. It appears that they are sewn by golden thread. The purple colored band is about two fingers wide and is tied below her hands. The bluish-green mantle covers the Lady’s head and runs down to her feet. The color of the inside of the mantle is less intense.  

The border of the mantle is golden and forty-six stars also golden are uniformly distributed on it, twenty-two on the right and twenty-four on its left. One hundred forty-six golden rays surround the figure. Sixty-two are on the right; and seventy-seven on the left. They appear equidistant from each other. The rays closer to the mantle are more brilliant turning to lighter, smoky yellow that disappears as the color reaches the clouds. This explains why people get the impression that the sun is in back of the image.  

The gold in the figure is not gold leaf nor is it applied. The gold seems to be incorporated in the fabric itself almost as if the threads were previously golden.  

From a distance of more than three meters, the colors are bright and distinct. It’s easy to distinguish the bright from the more obscure colors. They seem to disappear as one approaches the image using a strong magnifying glass. This has implications in the taking of photographs because the images taken will not be sharp.

Image of a man in the Lady’s eye discovered by  José Carlos Salinas Chávez, 29 May 1951.   Source: www.sancta.org/eyes_f.html  

The Figures Found in the Eyes of the Lady. In 1929, Alfonso Marcue, official photographer of the Basílica de Guadalupe, discovered what looked like the reflected image of a bearded man. Church officials decided to maintain the secret during this time of persecution by the government. Then in 1951 José Carlos Salinas Chávez also studied the images. Intensive examinations by ophthalmologists revealed that the reflection of a bearded man was in both eyes.  

Later when he was invited to study the Virgin’s eyes, Dr Enrique Graue Y Díaz González refused because he believed that such a thing was scientifically impossible and he didn’t want to disillusion the persons who had invited him. But in 1974 he finally agreed to do a scientific examination. After doing an initial study, he got permission to do additional examinations. After three different studies, he declared with absolute certainly the reality “so extraordinary, beyond the realm of possibility, of the bust of a bearded man” (p. 118). Then he explains what he observed as an expert ophthamologist (pp 118, 120). Are the Dark Virgin’s/la Morenita’s eyes in the painting alive?

Images found by Dr José Aste Tonsmann  In www.sancta.org/eyes_f.html

Front cover of Album del 450 Aniversario de
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (1981)

One More Thing. It’s apparent that the Dark Virgen (la Morenita) is at prayer: she’s looking down and her hands are folded. She is present to Someone greater than she. In seeing the miraculous image, Mexicans (Aztecs) spotted a black cross on the golden brooch at the neck of her robe. It had the same shape of the official black cross Mexicans saw engraved on the banners of the Spanish conquistadores. They interpreted this black cross to mean that Our Lady of Guadalupe professed the same faith as the soldiers and missionaries. Consequently, from 1532 to 1538, eight million indigenous converted to the Catholic faith.  

Now I’d like to introduce the book, A Handbook on Guadalupe (1996). The chapters contain a wealth of information about Guadalupe that I cannot due justice in this short article. Among its titles dealing with the principal figures and the tilma are: 

            We had about an hour altogether, and could study the Image carefully. The more I looked, the more miraculous it appeared. In some places there is scarcely any paint (if it is paint) at all. And all of it is like a wash…a thick wash of some sort on a very coarse canvas almost as open as burlap. When you see the broken seem, you wonder how it hangs together. The expression of Our Lady’s face is altogether indescribable. It is so tender, so loving, so human, and in her enigmatic smile, far more challenging than that of the famed “Mona Lisa” of Leonardo da Vinci. Reproductions do not convey the gentleness and softness of the molding of the eyes and lips. . .And the great feature is, of course, the eyes, which do not look like the painted eyes in a portrait, but like really living, human eyes, with the proper eye contours.  

To me, the strangest thing is this: ordinarily, when one is close to a painting, the detail is sharper than from a distance. But with the Holy Portrait, this isn’t so. Close up, you can scarcely see the stars in her robe, yet they are dazzling from a distance. And from the nearness of the scaffold, her robe is not the greenish blue (robin’s egg) one sees from a distance, but a much darker,  

bluer blue up close. The pink of her gown is very pale, yet very rosy at some distance. This reversal of nature intrigued me to no end, and baffled all of us. . .              

             And always, there is the tremendous sense of Presence, of magnetic graciousness, which has never been my experience with any other painting, religious or secular, that I have ever admired and loved. And I have seen, studied, and admired many masterpieces in my twenty-five years in New York City: those of El Greco, Goya, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Rafael, Veneer, Holbein, Rembrandt, Raeburn, Titian; be it in the permanent collections of museums, private collections, or in the great loan exhibition fro the World’s Fair. There is nothing comparable to Our Lady’s Portrait. She left something of her presence with it, that is all I can say (p. 88).

www.luxdomini.com/_gpe/contenido1/guadalupe_nican2.htm

Recommended Bibliography

Burrus, EJ, SJ (1986). Bibliografía Guadalupana, 1531-1984. Georgetown University Press: Washington, DC.
     . (1984). Juan Diego and Other Native Benefactors in the Light of Boturini’s Research. CARA Studies in Popular 
         Devotion, 7. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate: Washington, DC.
      . Guadalupe. nd. CARA Studies in Popular Devotion, 6. Guadalupe Abbey: Lafayette, OR.
      . (1983). The Basic Bibliography oof the Guadalupan Apparitions (1531-1723). CARA Studies in Popular Devotion, 5. 
        Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate: Washington, DC.
Demarest, D & Taylor, C. (1956). The Dark Virgin Coley Taylor, Inc.: Porter’s Landing, Freeport, Maine, and NY. 
Echegaray, JI (Ed.). (1981). Album del 450 Aniversario de las Apariciones de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Ediciones 
        Buena Nueva: Mexico, DF.
Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. (1997). A Handbook on Guadalupe. Academy of the Immaculate: Waite Park, MN. Guerrero, J L. (2008).  
Our Lady of Guadalupe: A New Interpretation of the Story, Apparitions, and Image. Liguori  Publications: Ligouri, MO.
Poole, S, C.M. (1995). Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797. 
       The University of Arizona Press: Tucson & London.
León-Portilla, M. (2000/2002). Tonantzin Guadalupe. El Colegio Nacional, Fondo de Cultura Económica: Mexico, DF.
     . (1961/1997). Los Antiguos Mexicans a Través de sus Crónicas y Cantares. Fondo de Cultura Económica: Mexico, DF.
     . (1963). Aztec Thought and Culture. University of Oklahoma Press: Oklahoma and London.
     . (1992). The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico expanded & updated ed.).Beacon Press  
       Books: Boston, MA.
“La Tilma de Juan Diego”by Dr Enrique Graue y Díaz González in Album del 450 Aniversario de las Apariciones de   
       Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (1981), pp 115-120.

Internet Websites
www.luxdomini.com/_gpc/contenido1/guadalupe_nican2.htm
www.marys-touch.com/Mother/Ch 16.htm
www.marys-touch.com/Mother/Ch 17.htm
http://virgendeguadalupe.org.mx/apariciones/documentos/i_nican.htm

Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe 1845.  Note church on Tepeyac Hill  

Cross restored, sacrifice remembered
Charlie Butts   (OneNewsNow.com), November 09, 2012

The nineteenth century French painting, Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer--today hangs in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. It has not lost its capacity to shock. In the Roman Circus, the small flock of Christians is huddled in the sand, kneeling around their aged pastor. We see weeping little children, whole families gathered. In the stands are tens of thousands of people, none of whose faces are visible, but they are colorfully dressed, awaiting a special entertainment. The scene is eerily lighted by flaming crosses. Looking more closely, however, we see those crosses bear Christians, covered in pitch and set aflame. Their suffering, at least, will be brief. Out of the depths beneath the Circus stride lions a single tiger. The lead lion advances menacingly toward the Believers.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, the painter, may have wanted Christians of his time to remember the sacrifices necessary to build the magnificent civilization he and his contemporaries then enjoyed. The sky in this painting is dark and threatening. It symbolizes an age in classic antiquity that was both technologically advanced—look at architecture!—and spiritually stunted.

For France in 1883, it was the Belle Epoque. That was when Paris was being rebuilt as the beautiful City of Light we know today. In that year, steamships traveled the world’s oceans and Europeans sought to bring the benefits of railroads, schools, medical clinics, and the Gospel to many lands around the world.

All of that “imperialism” is today viewed with unalloyed horror by the intelligentsia of the West. The cultured despisers of religion think that persuading Indians to give up suttee—the practice of burning living widows on their husbands’ funeral pyres is cultural imperialism. Teaching native peoples in Africa not to kill newborn twins and chase their mothers into the bush to be devoured by lions is seen as imposing an alien values system on others.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that so little attention is being paid to Christian persecution in the Third World today. Our modern world—so technologically innovative—is morally and spiritually closer to that Roman Circus than we might like to admit. World Magazine, an Evangelical publication, is almost the only national news outlet that takes Christian persecution seriously. In the current issue, journalist Jamie Dean has provided a broad view of Christian persecution in the Mideast. It leads us to ask: Why should Christians anywhere view the “Arab Spring” with approval? Why should American Christians, in particular, join with the Obama administration in hailing every step they think they see toward greater democracy? Democracy requires more than people voting. In Egypt, there has been a sharp increase in the murder of Coptic Christians.

This administration entered office pledging to deal more openly with Iranian mullahs. These are the same men who jailed Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, 32, for the “crime” of sharing his faith with others. Reporter Dean makes clear that the recent release of Pastor Nadarkhani may have had more to do with the mullahs trying to avoid more stringent Western economic sanctions than with any lessening of their cruelties toward Christians.

Christians are familiar with the Bible passage in the Book of Acts where Jesus speaks to Saul. “Why do you persecute me,” Jesus asks. Saul is on his way to Damascus. How very appropriate this passage is to our own day. For it is in Damascus that Christians are being newly endangered. And when that is the case, it is not just Jesus’s followers are being persecuted, it is Jesus Himself. We have His word on that.

As we approach this Sunday’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, it is good to remember that we are citizens, too. We should pray for our brethren suffering all over the bloody crescent. And we should recall that when Saul became Paul he did not give up his Roman citizenship. He used that citizenship to advance God’s purposes on earth. As Christian citizens of this great republic, we can certainly cry out against persecution at home and abroad. And we can make our voices heard. John F. Kennedy said it well: "Here on earth, God's work must truly be our own."

Odell Harwell hirider@clear.net

IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

We invite you to explore our website http://www.idop.org/ and hope you will join Christians worldwide in praying for persecuted Christians.

For more on the subject:  http://www.catholic-convert.com/2011/06/07/105000-christians-martyred-per-year/

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, 1883 by Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904)
http://www.stjudefw.org/liturgy/summerordinary/The_Christian_Martyrs_Last_Prayer_By_Leon_Gerome.htm
Artist: Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) French Orientalist
Title: The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, 1883
Medium: Oil on canvas/huile sur toile
Size: 34 1/2 x 59 inches (87.9 x 150.1 cm)
Location: Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore

Evelyn Madrid Erhard

A Wise Latina

Nominated by
Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, PhD, (World War II Marine Corps veteran)  

 By  Mercy Bautista-Olvera

   
Evelyn Madrid Erhard is a professor in Communication and Critical Wrting, and an accomplished writer.

Comments about Evelyn Madrid Erhard
By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca. World War II Marine Corps veteran

y first impression of Evelyn Madrid Erhard was how strikingly attractive she is. However, what most impresses me about her is that she is the epitomé of the “wise Latina.” At a recent “meet and greet” afternoon hosted at our home by Gilda and me, I mentioned to her husband, Tom Erhard, how fortunate he was to have married a “wise Latina.” To which he responded, “Yes, I know.”

Evelyn was one of Tom’s students, though their romance did not begin until later, after she completed her Master’s degree. She and her husband live in Mesilla, New Mexico.

Evelyn’s husband tom Erhard and I were colleagues in the English Department at New Mexico State University from 1964 to 1970 when I left to be Founding Director of the first Chicano Studies Program in Texas at the University of Texas at El Paso.

There are many “wise Latinas” in the biosphere of Latinos/as in the United States, including Latin America. We have Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to thank for alerting us to the wisdom of “wise Latinas.” For many of us as Latinos, we’ve known for a long time about “wise Latinas.” My mother was one of them. I daresay, most Latina mothers are “wise Latinas.”

In this instance, Evelyn Madrid Erhard is “a wise Latina” who like Joan of Arc stands ready to defend the Constitution of the United States and its promises to its citizens.

There’s no need to rehearse the statistics about the dearth of Latinos/as in the political sphere of American life.

• Of the 90 women serving in the 112^th Congress, 7 are Latinas.
• Of the 75 women serving in statewide elective executive offices, 4 are Latinas.
• Of the 1,750 women state legislators serving nationwide, 65 are Latinas.

These are not statistics that square with the number of Latinos/as in the American population. And ripostes that attempt to place culpability for these statistics on Latino culture are cum hoc ergo propter hoc--a logical fallacy.

descendant of one of the early Land Grant recipients in northern New Mexico, Evelyn Madrid Erhard grew up in Española, New Mexico. Her roots in the land of enchantment are deep and imbue her with a strong historical sense of place which is why—she explains—she has decided to run as a candidate for the Congressional District 2 of New Mexico.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Drama and a Master’s degree in Communication from New Mexico State University.

Evelyn Madrid Erhard is an accomplished writer getting her start in the field as an intern at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Technical Writer which has provided her with the skills of analysis, organization, and presentation.

She explains that her interest in politics was spurred by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Her political views were further augmented by the deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., both of whom, according to Erhard, sought to give voice to those who were disenfranchised by the lack of political representation.

According to Erhard, in 2008 she was drawn to the politics of the disenfranchised—all Americans deserve to be heard and counted. Pursuing that interest, she honed her leadership skills in the Hispanic Leadership Program of the DNC.

Her outgoing manner and her eagerness to hear and listen to the voters of her Congressional District are the core values, as she puts it, of her candidacy as representative of New Mexico’s Second Congressional District.

This political philosophy embodies her determination to be the voice of the District’s electorate in the U.S. House of Representatives where she avers to place the interests of her constituents above the special interests wracking the American body politic at the moment.

Moreover, she says, she thinks of herself as a Jeffersonian Democrat with strong ligatures to the conservatism of the Founding principles of the American Republic and the Constitution they inspired.

She adds, that “Governance is not a “my way or the highway” proposition. Governance is a Solomonic process of justice for the people.” That’s why Evelyn Madrid Erhard is a “wise Latina.” And why she would represent New Mexico‘s Second Congressional District with distinction and with honor.  

HISPANICS BREAKING BARRIERS

Second Volume, 13th Issue

By  
Mercy Bautista-Olvera  

The 13^th issue in the series “Hispanics Breaking Barriers” focuses on contributions of Hispanic leadership in United States government. 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.  

Gloria Negrete McLeod:  United States Congresswoman, California, 35^th District    
Raul Grijalva:  United States Congressman, Arizona 3^rd District
Michelle Lujan Grisham:  United States Congresswoman, New Mexico, 1^st   District  
Pete Gallego:  United States Congressman, Texas 23^rd District
Dr. Irene Aguilar:  United States, Colorado State Senate, 32^nd District 

Gloria Negrete McLeod

On November 6, 2012, Gloria Negrete McLeod was elected to serve in the United States 35^th Congressional District in California.

Gloria Negrete McLeod was born in Los Angeles, California. She later moved to Chino.  She is married to Gilbert Luke McLeod, a retired police lieutenant. The couple have 10 children; 27 grandchildren, and 23 great grandchildren.

In 1975, Gloria Negrete McLeod attended Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, earning an Associate’s Degree. Between 1986 to1995, she worked as an Instructional Aide for Chaffey College in Pomona, California.  She began her career in public service as a board member, and then president of the Chaffey Community College Board.   

From 2000 to 2006, Negrete McLeod served in the California Assembly, representing the 61^st District, and from 2006 to 2012, she served in the California State Senate, 32nd District. The 32nd District stretches over two counties encompassing the cities of Colton, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rialto, and San Bernardino including the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy in San Bernardino County; and portions of Chino and the entire city of Pomona in Los Angeles County.

She served as a Chairperson of the Senate’s Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Negrete McLeod was active in efforts to bar county workers from applying their unused sick leave, and vacation time to bolster their retirement benefits. She also sponsored legislation giving minor offenders work-release credit for completing education, vocational, and drug treatment programs, and she pressed for domestic partners to receive the same benefits as married spouses.

During her eleven years in the California state legislature, she has focused on creating jobs, improving water quality, and providing access to affordable higher education, and health care.

She also served as a member of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development, Legislative Ethics, and Veterans Affairs Committees, an appointment Joint Legislative Budget Conference Committee which allowed State Senator Negrete McLeod to work directly on the state budget, and find savings, and achieve real reform.

As a state Senator, Negrete McLeod worked hard in the cleanup of groundwater contamination. A major legislative priority is to improve the quality of California's current water supply, ensuring that there is a reliable plan in place that will adequately provide for the State's growing water needs.

She ensured the affordability and access to higher education, enhancing the quality of health care, improving transportation systems to promote efficient goods movement while reducing traffic congestion, and promoting the growth of quality employment opportunities for residents of the Inland Empire and for all Californians.  

As a newly elected member of Congress Negrete McLeod feels “Congress is broken and cannot move forward unless Washington’s existing problems are fixed.  Our new

congressional district needs leadership willing to stand up to special interests, and deliver results for working families in San Bernardino and Los Angeles County.  As an independent common sense lawmaker, I will bring this kind of leadership back to Washington.”  

She further stated “In the House of Representatives, I will focus on job creation and ensuring our limited resources are invested in programs that improve the lives of Californians.  My record of independent, common sense leadership has earned me the support of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats throughout the district.”

Raúl Grijalva was re-elected the U.S. Congressman in Arizona’s 7^th Congressional District. He has served since 2003.  The district includes half of metro Tucson, Yuma, and Nogales, and some parts of metro Phoenix.  After the 2010, redistricting much of the 7th District became the new 3^rd Congressional District.

Raúl Grijalva was born in Tucson, Arizona. Grijalva's father was a migrant worker from Mexico who entered the United States in 1945 through the Bracero Program and labored on southern Arizona ranches.  

In 1967, Grijalva graduated from Sunnyside High School. In 1987, Grijalva earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of Arizona.   While at the University, he was a member of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de  Aztlán (MEChA), which, at that time, was a radical group identified with the separatist “Aztlán” ideology. Grijalva also served as a leader of the Chicano Liberation Committee, and other Chicano groups. He was an Arizona leader of the Raza Unida Party.    

From 1974 to 1986, Grijalva served as the Unified School Board Supervisor in Pima County, Arizona. Grijalva also served as Director of the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, and in 1987 he was Assistant Dean for Hispanic Student Affairs at the University of Arizona. 

In 1987, Tucson, Arizona an elementary school was named after him. In 1989, Grijalva was first elected to Congress, and was re-elected four succeeding times.

Congressman Grijalva’s priorities have included the re-deployment of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, affordable health care, broad-based expansion of alternative fuel and energy research; appropriate consumer protections from predatory lenders and banks; and increased consideration of Native American rights in federal decision-making. 

Grijalva is a 2004 inductee to the Sunnyside High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

He has been a vocal opponent of Arizona’s SB 1070 Law that mandates police checks of citizenship documentation for anyone subjected to a legitimate law enforcement stop, detention, or arrest.      

Grijalva has frequently called for a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and supports the wider implementation of the National Solidarity Program to improve Afghans' economic and educational infrastructure. The group of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave him an "A" rating for the 2007-2008 Congressional sessions.

Grijalva supports the DREAM ACT and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act (CIR ASAP). He has opposed the expansion of a border fence, citing cost effectiveness concerns and potential damage to sensitive wildlife habitats. The CIR ASAP bill includes his Border Security and Responsibility Act of 2009, which utilizes remote cameras and other border monitoring techniques with a relatively slight environmental impact.

Michelle Lujan Grisham

On November 6, 2012, Michele Lujan Grisham was elected to serve in New Mexico’s 1^st Congressional District.  

Michelle Lujan Grisham was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is the daughter of Buddy Lujan and Sonja Lujan. Her father served in the Santa Fe community as a Dentist, often providing dental care free of charge so that all of Santa Fe’s residents could be provided services that were necessary for their well-being. She is a 12^th Generation native New Mexican residing in Albuquerque for more than 30 years. Michelle was married to her college sweetheart, Greg, for 22 years before his sudden passing in 2004, of a brain aneurysm, leaving her as a single mother of two teenage girls, Taylor and Erin. 

Michelle Lujan Grisham graduated from St. Michael’s High School, and then moved to Albuquerque to attend the University of New Mexico for both undergraduate, and law school. (Her grandfather Eugene Lujan was the first Hispanic Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court). Her mother Sonja, cared for Michelle and her disabled sister, and now lives with Michelle in Albuquerque’s North Valley.   

She served as an attorney for the Lawyer Referral for the Elderly Program of the State Bar of New Mexico. Michelle fought to protect seniors from scam artists, safeguarding them from abuse and neglect, and helped them to remain in their homes.    

In 1991, former Governor Bruce King appointed Lujan Grisham as Director of the New Mexico State Agency on Aging. She served for 14 years, spanning three administrations. There she turned the program into a groundbreaking agency known nationwide for such innovative practices as undercover evaluations of nursing homes.

In 2002 Michelle was appointed to serve as Secretary of the newly created Aging and Long-Term Services Department and oversaw the reorganization of programs for seniors and persons with disabilities, improving New Mexico’s home and community-based care system.

In 2004, Lujan Grisham was appointed Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health, the largest department in state government. As secretary, she pushed to improve access to medical care and minimize poor health outcomes related to environmental conditions through the promotion of a proactive "precautionary principles."  

Friends, colleagues, and business associates all agree that Michelle’s energy, dedication and advocacy for the people make her the best candidate for New Mexico’s 1^st Congressional district. Her plan will cut taxes for the middle class and small businesses, invest in renewable energy, and upgrade New Mexico’s critical infrastructure. She will stand fast to protect and improve Social Security and Medicare.  

“Voters had a choice in this primary,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Tonight, they chose the candidate who not only identifies with the daily struggles of working families, but also dedicated a career to fighting for those families. I was successful because I always knew who my boss was – I answered to those families and those seniors.”

Pete Gallego

On November 6, 2012, Pete Gallego was elected to the U.S. Congress representing San Antonio’s, Texas 23^rd District.

Pete Gallego was born in Alpine, Texas. He is the son of Pete A. Gallego and Maria Elena Peña. He is married to Maria Elena Ramon.

In 1982, Pete Gallego graduated from Sul Ross State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.   In 1985, he earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas school of Las in Austin.  He is a member of the Sul Ross State University Hall of Fame, and has been named a Distinguished Alumnus by the SRSU Ex-Student Association. 

Since 1991, Gallego has been a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 74^th District, based in his native Alpine, Texas. Gallego was the first Hispanic to represent this vast border district. In 1991, he became the first freshman member and the first ethnic minority member ever elected as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, a post he held until January 2001.

In January 2001, Representative Gallego was unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as Chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC), a group of 43 House members who are of Mexican-American descent, or who serve a significant Mexican-American Constituency. Representative Gallego was re-elected as Chairman of MALC for the fourth time in December 2006.

Gallego serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO).

Gallego's career has included chairmanships of the General Investigating Committee, and several select and subcommittees. He has also served as a member of the Sunset Commission and the Committees on Appropriations, Calendars, Criminal Jurisprudence, Higher Education, and Elections.

Gallego supported an abortion law allowing minors to get an abortion with parental consent. Under the legislation a minor would have been able to bypass the requirement for parental consent by petitioning a judge.

Gallego supports increased border security. Gallego supports a path to citizenship and supports the DREAM act. He voted for the Texas DREAM Act.

In the Texas House, Gallego serves on the board of directors of the National association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO).

Residing in Austin, Texas Gallego became the nominee for the 23^rd District seat in Congress after defeating former Representative Ciro Rodriguez.

Dr. Irene Aguilar

Dr. Irene Aguilar is a Colorado State Senator; she represents the 32^nd District in the city of Denver, Colorado.  

Irene Aguilar was born and raised in inner city Chicago, Illinois.  She is married to Thomas Bost, and they have three children; Jonathan, Meg, and Amy. Together they enjoy camping and hiking in Colorado’s mountain areas. Her daughter, Amelia Milagro (Amy) has developmental disabilities, and has served as an inspiration for Irene's volunteer work on behalf of people with disabilities and in support of health care.  

Irene Aguilar attended Chicago Public Schools. She was the first in her family to complete college, attending Washington University in St. Louis, and then earning her medical degree from the University of Chicago-Pritzker School of Medicine.  She spent her residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and went on to work at Denver’s Westside Family Health Center, where she has been a Primary Care Provider since 1989.

In 1993, Aguilar was appointed by former Governor Romer to the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, she served for eight years. She has since continued to serve the board as a consultant.

In December 2010, Aguilar was appointed to her first term in the State Senate after being chosen by a vacancy committee to replace Senator Chris Romer.  

She served in the Colorado General Assembly; Aguilar was Vice-Chair of the Business, Labor, and Technology Committee, and a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, and the Local Government and Energy Committee.

As the mother of three and a practicing physician at Denver Health's Westside Family Health Center for two decades, Aguilar still, found the time to run for the 32^nd Senate District in the Colorado Legislature. She keeps busy in both the Capitol and with her constituents. She invites a crew of University of Denver law students to her office to study the pros and cons of any potential piece of legislation.  

Senator Aguilar represents Colorado at national health Care Conferences, she stands up for equal pay for equal work. She also presented a bill which would guarantee those with disabilities a say about the future of Colorado Medical Services. She is an advocate for Latinos from across the state. 

WITNESS TO HERITAGE

Remembering on Mother's Day
Wanda F. Garcia  

Hector Jr. being held by Papa, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, Mama, (Wanda) and me, Wanda.  

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

Sent by Trinidad Gonzales, Ph.D.
History Faculty
3201 W. Pecan Blvd.
McAllen, Tx. 78501
956-872-3513

 http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_9a04a920-199a-11e2-a98d-0019bb30f31a.html 

Russell Means Remembered
As Man of Inspiration

Died at 72, October 22, 2012

NATIONAL ISSUES

People across the nation mourned when they heard the news: Hostess Brands Inc. had stopped production, closed for good and laid off more than 18,000 workers – 86 of them locally.

"I grew up with Hostess products in my lunchbox," said Keisha Clemens, a 41-year-old Anaheim woman, who raced to the Hostess bakery near her home. "We'd trade Twinkies for Ding Dongs. And I'd usually eat the Twinkie before my sandwich."

Sergio Romo, a champion to Latinos

By Ana Perez, November 1, 2012

Pentagon cuts that make sense

Doc Coburn takes a scalpel to outrageous defense spending

By Emily Miller, The Washington Times, Friday, November 16, 2012

Sen. Tom Coburn is bucking his own party by exposing specific items to cut in the Pentagon’s $600 billion budget. As Republican leaders battle President Obama over his insistence on taking half the Jan. 2 mandatory sequestration from defense, the Oklahoma Republican on Thursday blew the lid off billions that could be saved without actually undermining our troops.

Dr. Coburn labels the Pentagon the “Department of Everything” in his report outlining $67.9 billion in cuts over 10 years. It should guide lawmakers as they begin to consider how to deal with the first $109 billion in spending reductions due Jan. 2 under the terms of the August 2011 debt-ceiling deal. “We are making the point that, if you want to cut another $500 billion out of defense, you can get 15 percent just on things that have nothing to do with defense,” the senator told The Washington Times in an interview Friday. “It’s not hard to cut spending in Washington. It’s hard to get members to cut because they are clueless about the details of the spending and refuse to do the hard work of oversight.”

Unlike the usual Washington rhetoric that calls a less-than-requested increase in spending a “cut,” the items Dr. Coburn uncovered would actually result in spending going down each year. That’s important, because each real cut further slows the automatic spending growth to which bureaucrats have grown accustomed. Dr. Coburn applies his scalpel to five main areas: grocery stores ($9 billion), alternative energy ($700 million), education ($15.2 billion), nonmilitary research and development ($6 billion) and overhead and supply services ($37 billion).

Within each of these broad categories, the random projects being funded by taxpayers are truly outrageous. These include development of a caffeine-tracking smart phone app, production of a reality cooking show on grilling, operation of microbreweries and the creation of a bomb detector that has a paltry 47 percent success rate. The Pentagon has also wasted $1.5 million in coming up with new beef jerky flavors like salami, chipotle and smoked ham. The diligent researchers are even trying to develop the meat snack out of fish that tastes “less fishy.”

What’s more fishy is that the military spends $50,000 a year per student running 64 elementary and secondary schools on U.S. bases for the families of servicemen. That’s as much as the tuition, room and board at Harvard. As the report explained, the average state cost for public school is $11,000 per child, which means the military is sending four-and-a-half times more without offering kids a better education.

As Dr. Coburn said, the across-the-board sequestration is the “coward politicians’ way of cutting spending” because it doesn’t identify waste and redundancy. While it is not right that half of the fiscal cliff cuts come from defense, it doesn’t follow that existing money can’t be spent more wisely. Republicans need to stick to their principles and pay for trillions in borrowing with cuts, the reductions just need to be made in a smart way.

Read more: MILLER: Pentagon cuts that make sense - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/16/pentagon-cuts-that-make-sense/#ixzz2CW1GfUqP

Shocking News from ABC's Diane Sawyer

Zetas Cartel Occupies Mexico State of Coahuila by Tracy Wilkinson, 
3 November 2012 

behalf of molly [mollymolloy@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2012 10:41 AM
To: frontera-list@googlegroups.com
Subject: [frontera-list] Zetas cartel occupies Mexico state of Coahuila - latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-zetas-control-20121104,0,4077102,full.story 

The Mexican national newspaper, Milenio, reported an estimate this week of 57,449 (Nov 3 2012) "organized crime related deaths" during the presidency of Felipe Calderon. The paper provides no information (apparently) about how these numbers are devised. It is ludicrous when we compare to the actual official homicide statistics published regularly by two federal agencies in Mexico--INEGI and SNSP. According to actual INEGI data for 2007-2012, there have been about 125,632 homicides since 2007. These numbers are all actual counts of bodies certified as homicide deaths by a "medico legista" on actual death certificates -- like a coroner in the US. 

The number of people attempting to illegally cross the U.S-Mexico border has plummeted, but the number of migrants dying during the trek through the mostly desert region has not.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues its efforts to secure the border and prevent deaths in the area, Border Patrol officials said. But, while the number of border crossings has declined dramatically in the last five years, the number of deaths has not decreased at the same pace. Human rights organizations attribute the problem to the increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border and the absence of government policy addressing the social and economic motivations that prompt migrants to continue to cross, despite the dangers.

"We never thought that we'd be in the business of helping to identify remains like in a war zone, and here we are," said Isabel Garcia, co-chair and founder of the Tucson-based Coalición de Derechos Humanos.

While the precise number of individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization is impossible to tally, Border Patrol’s apprehensions and death data offer the most accurate picture available. Each year the CBP reports the number of bodies found along the Southwest border and the number of migrants that agents bring into custody. In fiscal year 2011, 327,577 migrants attempted to cross the border illegally, down from 858,638 in FY 2007 -- a nearly 62 percent drop. A closer look at the numbers reveals that although illegal border traffic has slowed and deaths have slightly declined, the proportion of border crossing fatalities to border crossing apprehensions has continued to rise.

In FY 2011, Border Patrol found 368 people dead, compared to 398 in FY 2007. The number of deaths to live interceptions rose to just over 0.11 percent in FY 2011 compared to some 0.05 percent in FY 2007. While the numbers may seem small, they indicate that illegal border crossings have become less common, but more dangerous.

In May, the Pew Hispanic Center found that migration from Mexico to the United States had reached a "standstill" that began in 2005, a first since the wave of immigration to the north began in the 1970s.

During the same period, U.S. Border Patrol increased the number of agents and technology used to monitor the border.
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection has more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol since 2004," Kerry Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol, said in an e-mail to The Huffington Post. "Taken as a whole, the additional manpower, technology and resources provided in the last six years represent the most serious and sustained action to secure our border in our nation's history. And it is clear from every key measure that this approach is working."

Increased border monitoring and the historic number of undocumented immigrants deported from the United States has caused migrants to take riskier routes across the border, said Garcia, of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos. Some are desperate to return.

"The more we have militarized the border," Garcia said, "the more walls we put, [the] more technology, [the] more agents we put, people who find that they've got to cross -- whether because they're starving and, more and more right now, because they've got to come back and reunite with their families -- they're going further and further out into the more dangerous areas. That's why we continue to see, at least ratio wise, an increase in the deaths."

Crossing the border is inherently dangerous, Rogers said.
"Regardless of how many agents are on the ground or the technology available, the dangerous terrain and inhospitable weather remain a dangerous factor to would-be border crossers," Rogers said. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made multiple efforts to try to prevent as many deaths and injuries as possible, most notably the Border Safety Initiative."

The CBP began the Border Safety Initiative in 1998, a bi-national strategy to reduce deaths along the Southwest border. The agency equipped agents with first responder medical training, installed rescue beacons that migrants in crisis can use to call for help and warning signs to deter migrants from making the possibly fatal trek. In 2005, the CBP also began funding the "No Más Cruces en la Frontera" (No More Crossings at the Border/No More Crosses at the Border) campaign to educate potential immigrants about the dangers of crossing the border.

"We are emotionally understanding of the plight of these humans beings," said Jimmy Learned, president of Elevación, the ad agency in charge of the No Más Cruces campaign since its launch. "And I think that's a very important component, too. This is not about laws or anything like that. It's really more humanitarian and education[al]."

Over the years, No Más Cruces has communicated its message through "migra-corridos" -- songs that narrate the dangers migrants face while crossing the border -- mini-documentaries, ads and posters in domestic markets, eight Mexican states and Guatemala. Although CBP finances the $3 million campaign, the materials do not indicate the U.S. government pays for them, Learned said.
While the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and other immigrant advocacy groups support educational efforts to save lives, the campaign cannot solve the problem alone, Garcia said.

"It's a public relations move because we know so well that none of our policies and measures are addressing any root cause issue, addressing why people are coming, and addressing issues that would prevent people from having to come," Garcia said. "Migration is not a law enforcement, military or homeland security issue. It never has [been], especially along this border. It has been an economic, more than anything, social, and political issue."

Sent by Roberto Calderon, Ph.D. beto@unt.edu

In June of this year, the American Civil Liberty Union released a report “At America’s Expense:The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly”. The report detailed the extraordinary growth and cost of imprisoning the elderly noting:

“In 1981, there were 8,853 state and federal prisoners age 55 and older. Today, that number stands at 124,900, and experts project that by 2030 this number will be over 400,000, amounting to over one-third of prisoners in the United States. …State and federal governments spend approximately $77 billion annually to run our penal system. Over the last 25 years, state corrections spending grew by 674%, substantially outpacing the growth of other government spending, and becoming the fourth-largest category of state spending…. and incarcerating aging prisoners costs far more than younger ones… this report finds that it costs $34,135 per year to house an average prisoner, but it costs $68,270 per year to house a prisoner age 50 and older

The report accounts for the growth to the “tough on crime” policies and “war on drugs” of the past 30 years with longer sentences and fewer releases leading to the ever expanding number of the elderly. It has occurred even though the great majority of those elderly pose no threat to the public and it calls for states to:

“implement mechanisms to determine which aging prisoners pose little safety risk and can be released”, and “estimates that releasing an aging prisoner will save states, on average, $66,294 per year per prisoner, including healthcare, other public benefits, parole, and any housing costs or tax revenue”.

In addition to the ACLU report, James Ridgeway a long time experienced reporter has written for Mother Jones on elderly incarceration, looking at Massachusetts. His article was supported by MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowship, a collaboration of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America, demonstrating the concern of organizations that focus on the elderly.

The latest breakdown of NY’s prison population (January 1, 2011) lists 1,917 over age 60 with an additional 6,475 people ages 50-59.

The Elderly in New York’s prisons

Assemblyman Jeffry Aubry, Chair of the Assembly Corrections introduced Assembly Bill A9696 “The NewYork state program for older prisoners act". The act calls for authorization of geriatric parole release for inmates 60 years or older who have served at least one half of their minimum sentence or determinate sentence. Aubry’s bill cited the low risk and increasing costs of imprisonment for the elderly, such as 24 hour nursing home care and hospice care. The bill notes:

“Care for a gravely ill inmate costs the state approximately $150,000 a year. Older people outside of prison are eligible for federal Medicare or Medicaid benefits and home health aid, and may also have help from families and friends. In prison, the state bears the entire cost of medical care as a prisoner ages”

Fall 2012
Published by the New York Chapter of CURE, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants
207 Riverside Ave, Scotia, New York, 12302 curenewyork@aol.com, www.bestweb.net/?cureny
Newsletter Editor Jim Murphy, Blog Editor Deb Bozydaj: www.curenewyork.wordpress.com
Source: American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004 www.aclu.org 

HEALTH ISSUES

Israel encourages use of medical marijuana

• By Lauren E. Bohn, November 4, 2012

A security guard walks at Tikkun Olam medical cannabis farm, near the northern Israeli city of Safed, Israel. Marijuana is illegal in Israel but medical use has been permitted since the early 90s for cancer patients and those with pain-related illnesses (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

ACTION ITEM

Univision working to create immigration archive
by David Bauder, AP TV writer, November 16, 2012 

Looking for photographs from the 1970s of Chicanos
 graduating, wearing caps and gowns.

I am looking for photographs from the 1970s of Chicano graduating, wearing caps and gowns. I am looking not so much for formal portraits as candids...joyful...triumphant...in the moment. The images are to be used in a PBS documentary I am producing that will air in the fall of 2013. It is a six hour series entitle LATINO AMERICANS and it will be a history of Latinos in the United States.

If anyone has such photo I would be so so so grateful!!!
John J. Valadez, Producer  
 johnjvaladez@aol.com  
516-810-7238 

PBS | LATINO AMERICANS
Latino history is American history
Anti-war march in Seattle, probably 1971. 

Source: Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project

JERRY: THE MOVIE

Jerry Trujillo  lennytrujillo51@aol.com
Sent by Jerry Martinez  jerry.sfc@gmail.com 

BUSINESS

The Latina Business Women Luncheon is held annually to discuss various topics of interest to business women, but also to showcase the accomplishments of Latina business women in the community.

NHBWA
2024 N. Broadway, Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92706
(714) 836-4042

CULTURE

Panel 1 Origin of Ideas, life and the Universe  

Remarkable Ceramic Mosaic 
in Harlingen, Texas

 by Norman Rozeff  
with special photographic assistance 
by Charles Sadler

How did this unusual artwork come to be created and find its permanent home in Harlingen? The answer begins with the artist. Raul Esparza Sanchez (1923-2001) was an accomplished muralist, sculptor, and oil painter. His works are widely exhibited in Mexico, the U.S, and China. They “are characterized by the bold use of color and by historical, regional, and rural themes.” He spent most of his life in Torreon where his murals are displayed in banks, hotels and public buildings of that city. Commissioned by the University of Coahuila, he produced one mural showing the origins and evolution of medicine, now in the School of Medicine, and a second, in the School of Commerce and Administration, showing economic activities from pre-Hispanic societies to the modern day. He considered his La Encarnation in the Sagrado Corazon Church in Torreon to be his most important work. His huge tile mural of the Virgin revealed his talents to the world. It resulted in his being commissioned to compose a mural for the exterior of the California Museum of Science and Industry.

Sanchez conducted extensive research before creating The History of Mexico and Mankind for the museum in Los Angeles. He set up a studio and kiln adjacent to the museum. In it he fashioned his masterpiece which was affixed to the museum's facade in 1975. Unfortunately the museum was to be superceded (and demolished) in 1984 by the California Science Center. The tiles of his work were removed, preserved, and placed in storage-- for ten years.

Lynn Keller, then curator of the Rio Grande Valley Museum in Harlingen, learned through a museum-orientated internet group that the tiles would be donated to non-profit organizations and immediately thought of the city's Hispanic heritage. By September 2000, the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Harlingen Proud had convinced the California Science Center that Harlingen would give the mural a good home. Next they came up with funds of about $1,500 needed to ship the mural tiles sitting in ten large plywood crates weighing a total of 1,900 lbs. They arrived in Harlingen in October 2000. With the help of Jaime Maldonaldo Fabian of Torreon, Sanchez was notified of his work's new home. He was very pleased and said ”the mural is going to be near me now.”

It then took nearly a decade before a suitable location was designated for the re-erection of the murals. This fittingly was in a newly-established city park named Centennial Park in commemoration of the city that was to                              Panel 2:  Pre-Hispanic Cultures
celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of its April 1910 establishment.

The mural has a series of nine panels. Each depicts a unique historic/societal perspective. The first is Origins of Ideas, Life, and the Universe. The second portrays Pre-Hispanic Cultures: Olmec, Aztec, Teotihucan, Mayan, Toltec, and Zapotec. Aztec and Mayan symbols represent the region's pre-Colombian legacy. The third depicts a Tomb Cover from the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque, Chiapas. This artifact is nearly 1,300 years old. 
                                         Panel 3, Tomb Cover, Palenque, Chiapas

Panel 4 Florence Rozeff

Panel 5 Siege of Tenochtilan

Panel 8: Peace and Unity

 Panel 9: The Aztec Sun of Fire. 

Employees of Harlingen's Mion Tile and Marble Company re-laid the tiles in a laborious undertaking.

On April 15, 2010 the mural was unveiled by city officials. A huge celebratory crowd was in attendance. It was entertained by colorful dancers from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The city is rightly proud to exhibit this wonderful artwork of Hispanic history.

“Latinopia”
 Latinopia Link: El Rio for the People…

Art Seen: Painter Ernest Silva Wants Your Attention
by Karen Kenyon 
San Diego Free Press, in Arts, Culture, October 26, 2012

The deer in the painting wants help — or is he saying, “are you there? Do you see me?” He’s deep in aqua water, his orange-red antlers like firelight, the house in the background seems no refuge, the slim trees are bare. He looks straight at the viewer.

I recently viewed this painting (Deer, Falls, House) and others by Ernest Silva at Double Break Gallery on 5th Avenue in San Diego. Owners Louis Schmidt and Matt Coors opened their gallery 1 1/2 years ago, and are thrilled to now feature Silva, an artist they have long admired, and who is also their former professor at UCSD (both were in the MFA program in Visual Arts at UCSD).

Wooden Man Ernest Silva 2008

 
|Twenty-two of Silva’s paintings fill the small gallery (extended until November 17) — most unframed, many works on paper, a few on canvas or wood veneer. The works, says Schmidt, are an overview of Silva’s career. The two gallery owners came to Silva’s studio and chose the paintings they felt represented various series created by Silva over the last seven years (2005-2012). “The paintings we chose represent the highlights and strengths of his work,” says Schmidt.

Silva’s paintings draw the viewer into the past, the 1940’s and 50’s, and at first evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort. That is, until you often notice that something is terribly wrong. For example, in his painting, Rowers, Lighthouse, Deer, two men are rowing a canoe — and at first the viewer may think rowing is a benign experience, but then it’s seen that both men have startled and fearful looks on their faces. And the painting, Living Room, Yellow, in which he gives us the interior of a warm yellow room, a fire in the fireplace, and a mother and small son in the center on the floor. But why is there also a fire next to the mother and son?

Living Room, Yellow Ernest Silva 2007

Silva’s paintings draw the viewer into the past, the 1940’s and 50’s, and at first evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort. That is, until you often notice that something is terribly wrong. For example, in his painting, Rowers, Lighthouse, Deer, two men are rowing a canoe — and at first the viewer may think rowing is a benign experience, but then it’s seen that both men have startled and fearful looks on their faces. And the painting, Living Room, Yellow, in which he gives us the interior of a warm yellow room, a fire in the fireplace, and a mother and small son in the center on the floor. But why is there also a fire next to the mother and son?

And yet there are many times points of light in Silva’s paintings — lighthouses, lanterns, as perhaps signs of hope. With all the seductive dangers you still have a sense of safety, for Silva, the storyteller/painter, has lived to tell the story. His stable of iconic images appear and reappear in paintings throughout his career – for example, a scarecrow figure “has been appearing since the 70’s,” he says. Other images include deer, men, women, wooden houses, rafts, canoes, bare trees, full moon, water, fire, and the beacons or lights.

Silva’s colors range from primaries of yellow, blue, red, to black and white, with touches of coral and violet. The paint is applied at times in an opaque manner — at other times it appears translucent.

Writer Leah Ollman, wrote in an essay in the exhibition catalogue for his exhibit, Lighthouses: Recent Works by Ernest Silva, “Silva’s work is grounded in what endures — love, longing, belonging and evolving.” The viewer can connect to what may be one of Silva’s personal remembrances, or his social commentary, and can then bring in his or her own memories and attitudes.

Silva has said he strives for the hand made, the emotive. “The images draw you in. You playfully consider them, and then something far from innocent takes hold of you.”

Silva began exhibiting at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in 1972, and at Artists Space in New York in 1975. In 1979 he began teaching at UCSD as a professor in the Visual Arts Department. He has exhibited all over the United States, in Europe, and in Mexico. His public art projects include the The Rain House, a long-term project at the New Children’s Museum of San Diego.

Silva considers his work visual poetry. “Like poetry,” he says, “it involves intimacy.” So, visit this exhibit, let Silva’s paintings lure you into appreciation, and to his view of danger, hope, reflection, and human evolution. “What is beautiful and disturbing about the images is that they lead to multiple interpretations,” says Silva.

Ernest Silva wants to beckon us into seeing.

Exhibit ran  through November 17, 2012 
Double Break Gallery, 1821 5th Ave. San Diego 92101
www.ernestsilva.org
www.doublebreakstore.com

Karen Kenyon has been published in The Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, British Heritage, Westways, and The Christian Science Monitor. She also has two books Sunshower (Putnam, NY) and The Bronte Family (Lerner Publications, Minnesota) She teaches at MiraCosta College and UCSD-X.

— LA COLECCIÓN ADRASTUS LANZA SU NUEVO SITIO WEB —

EDUCATION

16 Santa Ana teens win $30,000 scholarships
by Fermin Leal, Sept. 29, 2012 
Orange County Register, CA

Simon Scholars from Saddleback High, Santa Ana, CA.

Left ot right: Jesus Garcia, Xosthan Abarca, Christopher Ruiz, Selene Sarabia, Jesse Escalante, Nohely Ramirez, Francisco Ibarra, Lizbeth Guzman.

Simon Family Foundation
Founded: 2003 by Newport Beach entrepreneur, , Ronald Simon
Sixteen Santa Ana high school juniors have been named Simon Scholars, an honor that includes a $16,000 scholarship, along with academic support and other resources to help each on the path to college.

The students were chosen by the San Clemente-based Simon Family Foundation, which selects 16 students from the district for the award each year based on academic achievement and financial need, and because they are working to overcome obstacles in their education.  The students will be honored Thursday night at a reception at the Wyndham Hotel in Costa Mesa.

This year’s batch of recipients includes students who came from broken homes, battled extreme poverty and overcame physical ailments. Most will be the first in their families to attend college. Some will be the first to graduate from high school.

They include Julio Rodriguez, a 16-year-old honors student from Segerstrom High, who suffers from cerebral palsy. Rodriguez has refused to rely on crutches or a wheelchair and is training to run a half marathon.

“I am going to do something great with this honor,” said Rodriguez, who was raised with his three siblings by his single mom.

“Winning this scholarship means I now have a ticket to college,” he said. “It shows me that if I work hard and stay positive, I can do anything.”

He hopes to attend UC San Diego to study psychology or criminal justice. He plans on researching criminal behavior and eventually working with at-risk youth.

“This year’s group from Santa Ana is filled with such amazing students,” said Megan Barnes, Simon Foundation program director. “They come from very difficult backgrounds. But none want pity. They just want an opportunity.”

Since 2003, the Simon Family Foundation has awarded nearly 300 scholarships to students in Southern California. Sixteen students in Garden Grove Unified School District were named Simon Scholars in May.

Newport Beach entrepreneur Ronald Simon, who made his money constructing and selling kitchen cabinets, founded the program to help families like those of his factory workers, many of whom were from Santa Ana.

Through the program, students receive the $16,000 scholarship when they reach college. In addition, they get a $1,000 stipend while in high school. They also receive a laptop, SAT preparation courses, college application assistance, college campus tours, academic tutoring, mentoring and potential internship opportunities. The total contribution to each student is worth about $30,000.

Simon Scholars have gone on to such colleges as Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, Chapman, as well as Ivy League schools like Harvard and Columbia.

Simon’s daughter, Kathy Simon Abels, now runs the foundation and serves as its president and executive director. “We not only want to give them financial support, we’re trying to help them with academic support, and life skills and training,” she said.

Sixteen-year-old recipient Jesse Escalante, from Saddleback High, said he plans to attend at UC Berkeley. He hopes to become a social worker and novelist. Escalante grew up with parents who constantly battled drug addiction, leaving him with low self-esteem and other emotional problems.

“Before winning this scholarship, college was a big ‘if.’ Now college feels like something real,” he said.

National Guard tries to help kids fight off drugs
by Josh Francis, Orange County Register, October 25, 2012

Dr. Armando A. Ayala Memorial Scholarship

Cache Valley Parents for Dual Language Immersion

U.S. Department of Education Awards Nearly $228 Million 
to 97 Historically Black Colleges and Universities

November 5, 2012
By Editor BLACKSTAR PROJECT

Delaware
Delaware State University — $2,173,761

Florida
Bethune-Cookman University — $2,926,836
Edward Waters College — $1,297,176
Florida A&M University — $6,596,639
Florida Memorial University — $2,025,731

Georgia
Albany State University — $3,724,604
Clark Atlanta University — $2,756,524
Fort Valley State University — $2,626,143
Morehouse College — $2,300,748
Paine College — $1,514,609
Savannah State University — $2,793,926
Spelman College — $2,085,873

Kentucky
Kentucky State University — $2,192,831

Louisiana
Dillard University — $2,006,534
Grambling State University — $3,444,511
Southern University & A&M College — $5,331,871
Southern University New Orleans — $2,577,184
Southern University Shreveport — $2,812,234
Xavier University of Louisiana — $3,199,496

Maryland
Bowie State University — $3,001,958
Coppin State University — $2,774,741
Morgan State University — $3,890,113
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore — $2,535,353

Missouri
Harris-Stowe State University — $1,578,832
Lincoln University — $2,289,891

Hispanic-Serving Grants?
March 24, 2010 By David Moltz

Federal grants specifically for colleges that serve significant numbers of Hispanic students do not require the recipients to show that the spending reaches Hispanic students or that it improves their academic outcomes – and a review of how the funds are used shows that many grantees do not even try to make that case.While grant recipients defend the practice, arguing that any spending of these funds inevitably reaches Hispanic students because they make up significant proportions of the institutions' enrollments, some critics argue for more reporting aimed at ensuring that the money actually helps Latino students in some way.

Last year, Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965 provided more than $16 million in competitive grants to 29 Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), those whose undergraduate enrollment is at least 25 percent Hispanic. Institutional recipients must meet eligibility requirements; for example, they must have low average educational spending per student and certain percentages of their students must be deemed to come from “low income” backgrounds.Grantee institutions may spend Title V funds on nearly anything: “construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement in classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other instructional facilities,” “establishing or improving an endowment fund,” “activities to improve student services, including innovative and customized instruction courses designed to help retain students and move the students into core courses.”“There’s pretty broad latitude in what these grants might address,” said Margarita Benitez, director of higher education at the Education Trust who worked at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education when the Title V program was created. “As a former college president, I can tell you this is a president’s dream. It allows you to pursue any topic or any issue that is of interest to you.”The 2009 grantee institutions, from 10 states and Puerto Rico, are pursuing a wide range of projects.The Norco Campus of Riverside Community College, in California, is receiving more than half a million dollars annually for the five-year life of its Title V grant to develop a “computer game design and programming” curriculum. South Plains College, in Texas, is receiving nearly the same amount to introduce “wind/solar energy, physical therapy assistant and engineering technology” degree programs. Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of the City University of New York, is using its grant to create a “comprehensive e-learning center” to provide support services to online students. Several other colleges are using grants to pay for student success initiatives aimed at improving the graduation and retention of all students considered “at risk.”Benitez and other advocates for Hispanic students, however, worry that uses of these grants may be too broad for them to achieve their stated purpose to “expand educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students.”She and others do not want to change the legislation to make the grants more restrictive or explicitly state that funds should be directed only toward Hispanic students; they take no issue with the fact that non-Hispanic students, including other underrepresented and low-income students, benefit from the grants.Instead, these critics want institutional proposals to report on how whatever they are doing with the grant money is affecting Hispanic students and if it is working as well as planned. Though there are broad reporting requirements, there are none that stipulate institutions must show how Hispanic students specifically are being served by this spending.

“If you’re being awarded funds because you have a specific enrollment of Hispanic students, the least you could ask is what is going on with these students,” Benitez said. “This isn’t a limitation. You wouldn’t be doing something to the detriment of other students. Not to understand what works with what groups of students is irresponsible, though. There should be a reporting change to show how Hispanics are doing using disaggregated data, in addition to data showing clearly how all students are doing as a result of these projects.”Other advocates for Hispanics, however, disagree strongly, arguing that the Title V grant program needs no such changes. Antonio R. Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, said there is no doubt in his mind that the funds benefit Hispanic students.“The law spells out the ways in which they can use the money and their proposals reflect that,” Flores said. “All of the funding has to be justified; it’s competitive so not everyone gets money. It’s working as it’s intended to work. The reality is when a majority of Hispanic students [in all of higher education] attend these institutions, any way you spend the money to improve your institution, it’s going to affect them. I can’t see how they can not help Hispanic students.”Flores compared institutional spending of Title V funds on adding a new major, facilities projects or broad student success initiatives to a city spending funds to improve a roadway or a sidewalk. Because everyone benefits from this spending, Latino students do as well. Officials from some of the Title V grantee institutions made similar arguments.Ultimately, Flores argued that any funding directed toward Hispanic-serving institutions is welcome because of the lack of federal assistance they receive.

“HSIs only receive 52 cents for every dollar that all other institutions receive [on average] from the federal government per student,” Flores said. “To question whether they should do more with this will only create unnecessary concern for these institutions themselves.”Critics, however, find flaws in the logic that broad-minded spending best serves Hispanic students.“Their mentality is that a rising tide lifts all ships,” said Deborah A. Santiago, vice president for policy and research at Excelencia in Education, an advocacy group for Hispanic students. “That’s not the right mentality. Funding learning communities, for example, is a great way to spend the money. But are Hispanics being served in those learning communities? There’s no evaluation of these programs to show how they’ve improved Hispanic students. Let’s collect data on these learning communities not just to show how many students participate and how well they do, but how many Hispanics participate.”Santiago, formerly a policy analyst with the Congressional Research Service and someone who worked on Title V issues at the U.S. Department of Education, said proposals from institutions do not typically offer benchmarks or goals for improvements in outcomes for Hispanic students, because the government does not require them. It would be relatively easy, she said, for the government to change regulations, through non-legislative means, to require such reporting.“I’m not advocating that we only serve Hispanics with these funds, but I’m pressing for some intentionality here,” Santiago said.” If you have money because you’re an HSI, the presumption is that you’re serving Hispanic students. Let’s have them be a bit more explicit about how they’re serving them. If you’re buying new computers for the library, for example, how many Hispanics were in the library before and after? This is about making sure there’s some more clarity.”Though officials from some Title V grantee institutions explained that they did not track outcomes for Hispanic students because they were not required to do so to earn the grant, others tracked such data for institutional reasons or to trumpet their successes. For example, South Plains College, which previously received a Title V grant to open a branch location in 2005, saw an increase in its enrollment of Hispanic students as a result of its spending. Officials who tracked the successes said that Hispanic enrollment at the new branch had grown from 45 to 56 percent since its opening. They also reported that the fall-to-fall retention of Hispanic students at the new branch improved from 12 to 29 percent during the same period.Still, Benitez argued that most grantee institutions do not overtly direct spending of Title V money to Hispanic students or show how it affects them out of a fear of being negatively labeled.

“There’s this climate in higher education where people are leery or worried of it sounding like they’re backing affirmative action or opposed to a court decision as to what affects them,” Benitez said. “There’s a fear of political correctness and a fear of preferring one group over another. But people have almost gone too far in the other direction with this, saying ‘This is not for Latinos, it’s for everybody.’ ”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/24/titlev#ixzz2BOxk351H 
Inside Higher Ed

LEAD - HACU Presentation, Sunday Oct 21, 2012, Washington DC

Standing, left to right: Stephen Villasenor, Rob Garcia, Enrique Murillo, President Tomas Morales, Cesar Caballero, Robie Madrigal, and Julian Alcazar.

Seated, left to right; Iwona Contreras, Patty Aguilera, Aurora Vilchis, Caroline Sue Caballero, and Nori Sogomonian.

Latino Education & Advocacy Days
LEAD SUMMIT 

SAVE THE DATE:  Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The objectives of the LEAD summit are: 1) to promote a broad-based awareness of the crisis in Latino Education and; 2) to enhance the intellectual, cultural and personal development of our community's educators, administrators, leaders and students.

President Morales named to 2013 AASCU Board of Directors. Cal State San Bernardino president Tomás D. Morales will become chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Board of Directors in 2014.
Office of Public Affairs, California State University, San Bernardino
5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407-2393
909.537.5007 Email: csusbpresidentsletter@csusb.edu    http://news.csusb.edu/?p=18669 

By L. Maren Wood

We gathered at a Washington, D.C., restaurant to chat with our out-of town friend, the only one with a tenured position. She spoke of her disillusionment with academe: long hours, little support from administration, disrespectful students, low wages, and the inability to live where she could have a balanced life. Unsure of where to turn, she asked us to meet with her to discuss our experiences leaving academe.

The problem we faced—how to leverage a humanities Ph.D. into a meaningful nonacademic career—is a fate shared by thousands of Ph.D.'s. For years, universities have been producing Ph.D.'s far in excess of tenure-track openings. As undergraduate enrollments have grown, universities have hired more and more faculty members in part-time, temporary, low-paying jobs rather than create permanent tenure-track positions to meet the demand. According to the American Association of University Professors, 70 percent of teaching jobs at U.S. institutions are now non-tenure-track posts, and nearly 50 percent are part-time.
I completed my Ph.D. in American history in 2009. After initially limiting my job search to academic positions, I came to realize that it was necessary to think broadly about my career options. The job market for historians has been dismal for years. In 2010-11, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the American Historical Association reported a total of 627 jobs advertised, of which 69 percent were permanent full-time posts (or 432). During that same academic year, history departments produced 912 new Ph.D.'s.

The math is depressing enough if one assumes that only new Ph.D.'s are applying for those jobs, but of course that is not the case. A backlog of doctoral recipients are underemployed, unemployed, in temporary positions, or unhappy in their current jobs, and compete for any newly advertised tenure-track openings.

All of which is why many Ph.D.'s abandon the academic market. But those leaving behind careers as teachers and researchers in higher education face a daunting transition: What can we do, other than teach, with a Ph.D. in literature, gender and sexuality studies, or American history? After that dinner, I decided to answer that question for my field. My mission: figure out where history Ph.D.'s end up when they exit the academy.

Most history departments, it turns out, do not track the career outcomes of their alumni. The most that departments do is collect job-placement information from students in their graduating year, relying on self-reporting. Because academic job placements are a factor in determining a department's national ranking, the information collected tends to be skewed at best and misleading at worst. I recently learned of a department that in tallying up the number of its Ph.D.'s who found faculty jobs counted high-school teaching as "tenure track equivalent." Many programs count adjunct and temporary jobs in the same category as tenure-track posts, lumping them all as "academic jobs" to boost their rankings.

Few departments bother to track their Ph.D.'s who have exited the academy for nonfaculty careers. Those alumni get labeled as "other" or "nonacademic"—code for "liability" because they bring down the department's academic ranking.
The lack of accurate career-outcome data is problematic because it leads too many professors to believe that their Ph.D.'s end up in tenure-track positions far more often than they actually do. Meanwhile, among students, the lack of available information about job placement creates a sense of shame, embarrassment, and frustration when they do not land the golden ticket.

Most attempts at tracking career outcomes for humanities Ph.D.'s, or promoting nonacademic careers, come from outside graduate schools and departments. For example, the most popular source for alternative careers is a privately run Web site called the Versatile Ph.D., which allows students exiting academe to communicate anonymously with those who have already forged successful careers in a wide range of fields.

Many departments might well fear a study of the career outcomes of their Ph.D.'s., not wanting to publicly acknowledge that a large majority of their Ph.D.'s never find tenure-track work. But that does not excuse departments from having a better understanding of how, and where, their students actually do find employment. In the digital age, it is possible to find career-outcome data quickly, accurately, and effectively.

I studied the career outcomes of history Ph.D.'s who graduated between 1990 and 2010 (taking every other year) from four history departments: at Duke University, Ohio State University, and the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and California at Santa Barbara. I found career-outcome data—gathered via public Web sites and databases—for 96 percent of my total sample of 487 history Ph.D.'s. I generated lists of alumni through Proquest Digital Database, department Web sites, and alumni-services databases. I found current information on career outcomes from university and company Web sites, online directories, publications, conference papers, blogs, Linked In (although it proved to be of only limited use), and other sources. (An advance copy of this article was provided to the chairs of the four departments.)

I entered all of that into spreadsheets listing each Ph.D. by name, year of graduation, job title, institution, and industry category. Among my results: Only 50.7 percent of doctoral graduates from those four top-tier programs ended up in tenure-track jobs. For those who graduated in 2008 and 2010, the average was even lower: 38.5 percent.

I've created a chart for each department here on the percentage of its Ph.D.'s who hold tenure-track jobs. The charts illustrate a trend that departments and graduate students already know: Tenure-track jobs are scarce for students who have graduated since 2008. Yet the long-term trend reveals many years, long before 2008, in which a majority of a department's graduates did not secure tenure-track jobs. So while the Great Recession has intensified the problem of too few tenure-track openings, it has been a long time in the making. Every department needs to know its placement data and offer support for the 45 percent (and up) of its Ph.D.'s who will end up in alternative careers.

So where do Ph.D.'s go when they leave academe?

Far from the stereotype of the Ph.D. baristas at Starbucks, career-outcome data (see charts for each of the four institutions here) shows that history Ph.D.'s are thriving in a versatile range of careers. If we remove those who are deceased (2 percent) and those for which there are no data available (3.75 percent), then 27 percent are working in a range of industries other than academic research and teaching. (The remaining proportion at the four institutions ended up in temporary part-time, non-tenure-track, or postdoctoral appointments.)

Some of the history Ph.D.'s can be found working in areas where we would expect to find them: higher-education administration, publishing and editing, high schools, museums, government agencies, and public-history sites. They are researchers, consultants, and editors. One Ph.D. from Ohio State University is a vice president and corporate manager of a heavy-metal-equipment manufacturing company. Some are active-duty military officers. Many have successful careers as independent historians and scholars. Others run small businesses that specialize in everything from editing to organic food. Several decided to pair their doctorates with additional degrees to become lawyers, politicians, and librarians.

It's possible that some of those who graduated in 2010 may still end up in tenure-track jobs, but many of them are entering their third and possibly fourth year on the academic job market. How many would choose an alternative career path if the option was readily apparent? How many will? Eventually a candidate too long on the academic market begins to be viewed with suspicion by search committees, who assume that the "good ones" got snatched up upon graduation.

The versatile range of career outcomes for history Ph.D.'s indicates that departments need to expand their job-placement training. Most departments provide extensive training for the academic job market—how to write cover letters, create CVs, and prepare for conference and campus interviews. But few set more than an hour or two aside (if that) to help students consider "Plan B" careers. Doctoral students need workshops on writing résumés, networking in the "real" world, and conducting informational interviews. Moreover, departments need to be honest with students about their limited chances of landing tenure-track jobs, and encourage them to prepare for nonacademic searches as well.

A nonacademic career path often suggested to history Ph.D.'s is public history (that is, working for museums and historical sites). But the data I gathered showed that history Ph.D.'s in those four university programs have not ended up working in public history in any significant number. Moreover, a quick browse of job openings at museums and other public-history sites showed that those organizations seem to be looking for fund raisers, business managers, curators, and people with specialized training in museum studies. It's not clear how many doctoral recipients in history would actually qualify for such jobs. So public-history careers may not be the panacea that some academics have suggested.

While many alternative career paths do not actually require you have a doctorate, Ph.D.'s are often hired because of the skills and knowledge gained through their graduate training. You don't need a doctorate to become an insurance consultant, for example, but the language skills, theoretical background, research and writing abilities, comfort with public speaking, success at grant writing, and ability to learn and master new subject matter that you gain from graduate school are assets. Humanities Ph.D.'s could make the transition to alternative careers faster if they had more support from their departments on how to translate their knowledge and skills into nonacademic careers.

John Martin, chair of the department of history at Duke, said, "The real challenge lies in articulating much more clearly than we have in the past that Ph.D.'s in the humanities and social sciences not only can serve but should serve society well beyond the traditional academic job market." That shift has already begun in the historical profession. But, as Martin added, "we have a lot of work to do on this front. We have to think seriously about what it means to train the next generation of historians. We want the next generation to be more adaptable than we have been. And we want them to be able not only to carry historical analysis into a broad range of careers but also to draw on their studies of the past to enrich public discourse more generally."

It's in the long-term interest of history and other humanities departments to revolutionize the career training they offer to doctoral students. More and more people are leaving academe, and more and more people are shouting that smart students should avoid Ph.D. programs in the humanities because there are "no jobs." To survive, departments must demonstrate their worth to trustees, deans, students, donors, and taxpayers, and show that graduate programs in the humanities are worth saving because students do end up in excellent careers.

And the data I collected showed that they do. History Ph.D.'s from the four universities I tracked are succeeding in multiple nonacademic career paths. Departments are simply not aware of that, though, and aren't telling those stories.  Before you can encourage students toward nonacademic careers, you need to understand the alternative academic career paths that your alumni are already taking.

L. Maren Wood earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is founder and lead researcher of Lilli Research Group, a small educational-consulting firm in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/What-Doors-Does-a-PhD-in/135448/# 

Sent by Roberto Calderon, Ph.D. 

Current Dallas ISD Total Employment

LITERATURE

Remembering Borges by Marcela Álvarez

His widow María Kodama recently spoke with TintaFresca about the person and the author during her recent visit to New York to open the exhibit The Atlas of Borges.

Question: What do readers learn with this exhibition?
Happiness. Borges is always portrayed as someone in a grim mood, the man of the labyrinths. Yes, part of it was true, but necessary for the creative process. However, he was also a terribly funny person. I always say that if he hadn't gone blind, he would have been an adventurer. He'd still have been a writer, because that was what he felt, but he loved to do fun things. He had a different life, was overprotected, and raised by 19th century people. I tried to do everything as safe as possible for him, but he never said he could not do this or that. If he wanted to spend the night in the desert, if he wanted to ride a hot air balloon, a helicopter, we did it. A person is what he transmits. And Borges never transmitted to me that he was old or blind. With this exhibit, I want people to capture the image of what happiness was to us, of what we shared in a unique and wonderful way.

Question: What does this retrospective mean to you?
For me, it's as if he were present. I have never felt that he's gone. Or as my friends tell me, I do not let go of him.

Question:  A book by Borges that you really like?
Las ruinas circulares (The Circular Ruins), I read it when I was very young. Even though I did not fully understand it then I was fascinated by the language, the rhythm, its depth.

Question: If Borges had not been a writer, what do you think he would have been?
Lawrence of Arabia (laughs). That's very funny. Borges loved epic stories, and the main character in the film is epic and he is totally crazy.

About the author: Jorge Luis Borges was born on August 24, 1899 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died in 1986 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was a writer, poet, translator, librarian, essayist and literary critic. In 1921, after many years of living abroad, he returned to his homeland and founded the magazines Prisma and Proa. In 1923 he published his first book of poetry, Fervor de Buenos Aires, and in 1935 A Universal History of Infamy. He won many literary prizes among them the National Literature Prize in Argentina and the coveted Cervantes Prize.

www.tintafresca.us/LibrosParaLatinos

Nahualliandoing Dos is the second publication in Aztlan Libre Press’ Indigenous Voices Series. The Indigenous Voices Series publishes important literary, artistic and cultural work by American Indians and World Indigenous Voices.

Tlazokamatli/Gracias,
Anisa Onofre 
Juan Tejeda
Publishers/Editors

LIBRERIA MARTINEZ AND CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY 

Chapman University Partners with Ruebén Martínez to Establish 
Librería Martínez de Chapman University in Santa Ana, California  

SANTA ANA – It started with a barbershop and a bookshelf and has grown into an educational endeavor that engages a community and inspires a want for higher education.

Santa Ana barber-turned-community activist Ruebén Martínez has partnered with Chapman University to open Librería Martínez de Chapman University at Broadway and Third Street.

A grand opening was held Saturday to introduce the community to the revamped nonprofit bookstore and educational center that offers literacy programs and low-cost reading materials for the community.

Although the library isn't new, the partnership between the school and Martínez will mean a refreshed vision and an expanded reach in the community.

"This is a civic engagement," Martínez, 72, said. "(These students) are smart and they have that drive. We want to show them that we will listen to them and respect them."

New signage, redesigned classrooms and fresh paint on the walls welcomed visitors Saturday, and they browsed shelves of books offered in Spanish and English while a mariachi band provided background music.

Many who visited applauded the university and congratulated Martínez on the new venture.

"(Martínez) has provided a connection between groups in the community; he is a community liaison," said David Dobos, a retired sociology professor from Santa Ana College. "It's about transition. The people who come here get to see what's next."

Martínez said he hopes the students who visit the bookstore and take advantage of its programs will see that college should be what's next in their lives.

The new Librería will provide programs for preschoolers, tutoring, literature groups and art clubs, among others. Educating and involving parents will also be a focus that Martínez said is integral for success in the community.

"We don't care where they go (to college), we will help them," he said. "And we want to work with the parents. That's 50 percent of the battle."

Maria Solis Martinez said she looks forward to the added programs the library will offer.

As a mentor for young girls in middle school and high school, she uses the library to show them the importance succeeding in school.

"I always bring my girls to Ruebén," the Anaheim resident said. "He always makes youth feel important and helps with their self-esteem. I am glad Chapman is partnering with him."

The roots of Martínez's program are not forgotten despite the new look and the new name.

A mural painted in the back corner of the wall shows Martinez in his barbershop, standing in front of shelves packed with books.

A barbershop chair is displayed in the corner next to a swirling barbershop pole.

Behind the display, hidden from view, is a small room with a black barbershop chair where Martinez still gives an occasional haircut.

"I loved cutting hair, it was how I sent my kids to college," he said. "But now I do that maybe once or twice a month."

His focus now is the library, he said.

"I've been doing this 21 years," he said. "I'm not going to slow down on that."

Martínez opened his first Santa Ana barbershop in 1975 and would lend out books to his clients to encourage literacy.

He carried magazines, newspapers and books in Spanish and English.

Sometimes they were returned to him and other times he re-purchased materials to keep his shelves stocked.

He bought "Burning Plain" by Juan Rulfo 15 times from a Tijuana bookseller.

"I was told, you're a fool if you loan a book but you're a bigger fool if you return it," he said.

At the encouragement of the Tijuana bookseller, Martínez opened his own bookstore.

He started with his first order of five books. They were sold out in a day, he said.

Within six months, his orders were up to 100 books.

"I am just a lover of words," he said. "The more words you use, the more you read and wisdom falls in there somewhere."

His operation grew larger, but Martínez said he was struggling to keep his bookstore open in the last several years.

Chapman stepped in and offered a partnership – it would help raise funds for a revamped store and Martínez would donate his collection of books and other materials.

Chapman University announced in September that it would take over operations of the bookstore and partner with Martínez as the director.

Martínez is a presidential fellow for the university who has worked to recruit first-generation Latino students for Chapman for about three years. He was also granted an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters last year.

He said he is thankful for the partnership because it serves a community that, if not engaged and encouraged, can be easily lost.

"We are rich in the heart," he said. "We have goals, we have visions (and) we have dreams."

Staff writer Ron Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher@ocregister.com

Chapman University has joined with Orange County cultural leader Ruebén Martínez as a partner in his bookstore, Librería Martínez, located in downtown Santa Ana. The bookstore will become a nonprofit community educational initiative under the university’s oversight. With Ruebén Martínez’s guidance and collaborative leadership, Chapman University has assumed responsibility for the bookstore’s operations, and will provide an enhanced business plan for the store’s retail operation as well as opportunities for donor support. 

All proceeds from retail sales will be re-invested in the nonprofit educational initiative.Librería Martínez de Chapman University, as the store will now be known, will offer partnered programs with the university that will include expanded literacy tutoring staffed by Chapman education students and faculty members, counseling programs to help Santa Ana students navigate the education system from K-12 through college, reading clubs, monthly book discussions, author signings and more. 

Chapman will also revamp the store’s façade with a bold new redesign that includes eye-catching tilework and signage.A Grand Re-Opening of the store is scheduled for October 27, with more information to be released closer to that date. Librería Martínez de Chapman University is located at 216 N. Broadway in Santa Ana, Calif.

“The establishment of Librería Martinez de Chapman University will provide a base from which Chapman faculty and students will enhance literary and learning opportunities for Santa Ana residents and also learn from the residents,” said Don Cardinal, Ph.D., dean of Chapman’s College of Educational Studies. “Our students learn about the community from those who live in the community, not just from books and professors. Those who reside in the community will inform us of their needs, rather than us telling them what they should need. This is democratic civic engagement: mutual benefit derived from mutual respect toward the goal of community enhancement. 

Chapman University is proud to partner with one of Orange County’s true cultural treasures.”Santa Ana’s Librería Martínez was founded and operated by Ruebén Martínez, one of Orange County’s most respected cultural leaders. Martínez was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (popularly known as “the genius grant”) in 2004, and currently serves as a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by Chapman University in 2011.

In the late 1970s, Martínez operated a barbershop in Santa Ana, serving the community for more than 20 years as his shop became a gathering place not only for the Latino community but also for many of the movers and shakers of Orange County. Martínez became a cultural and political activist, and in 1993, when he realized that his predominantly Spanish-speaking clientele did not have a bookstore to meet their needs, he added a small collection of books to his barbershop. The number of books soon overwhelmed his shop, and Librería Martínez Books and Art Gallery, along with Libros Para Niños, a children’s bookstore, were born.

Many world-famous authors, including Isabel Allende, Sandra Cisneros, Jorge Ramos, Gary Soto and Rudolfo Anaya have visited and signed books at the store. Ruebén Martínez is well known as a champion of literacy for all, and in his current role as Presidential Fellow at Chapman, he acts as a community ambassador, reaching out to first-generation college students. Chapman’s Chancellor Daniele Struppa has remarked “Ruebén Martínez is proof that intellectual curiosity and a love of reading can completely transform a life, and his contagious enthusiasm in spreading the word about reading to young people is an inspiration to us all. He demonstrates every day that one person can be a dynamic catalyst for change.

”Dean Cardinal emphasized that Santa Ana has the lowest per-capita income ($16,891) and the lowest graduation rate in Orange County. More than 80 percent of Santa Ana residents are of Latino descent, and the majority of residents work in the service industries, a field characterized by low wages. “The poor economy has necessitated closure of local Santa Ana libraries,” Cardinal said, “leaving families with limited access to books and learning opportunities. But Santa Ana remains vibrant, and this new partnership has the potential to become a principal hub for educational resources, community programs and cultural activities. By linking Chapman University to a community resource with deep historic regional roots, we hope that Librería Martínez de Chapman University becomes a catalyst for significant, positive change for the residents of Santa Ana.”Initially, the following programs will serve the community, with the addition of more programs planned to launch later:

1. Literacy - This program aims to foster a love of reading for preschool school children by establishing a reading time where children and their parents can enjoy story time in English and Spanish. Chapman faculty and students will be involved in group sessions as well as one-on-one and “mommy and me”- type readings. In the future, plans also include offering reading and literacy tutoring, as well as math and financial literacy for children, teens and adults.

2. Parent Groups - Padres Unidos, a community-based parent education group affiliated with Chapman University, will be holding courses of study on parent development at Libreria Martínez. These courses are aimed at strengthening the family, supporting school children and building stronger and safer communities.3. Teens - Chapman will also offer workshops and counseling on various educational topics to help teens navigate the secondary educational system as well as providing orientation and support for them as they pursue higher educational opportunities. This program will be directed at both male and female teens, who may have separate and distinct needs in finding ways to be successful in school.

4. Literature, Reading and Arts Clubs – Librería Martínez will also offer monthly book discussions, book signings, author and artist presentations. These will aim to cultivate the love of reading and the arts, and to ensure children and adults have access to quality literary and educational material in their native language as they develop English competencies.More information will soon be available on the Librería Martínez de Chapman University website: https://www.chapman.edu/ces/libreria-martinez.aspx. Details on the bookstore’s Grand Re-Opening on October 27 will be released soon.ABOUT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY:
Consistently ranked among the top universities in the West, Chapman University provides a uniquely personalized and interdisciplinary educational experience to highly qualified students. Our programs encourage innovation, creativity and collaboration, and focus on developing global citizen-leaders who are distinctively prepared to improve their community and their world.

For more information, visit http://www.chapman.edu 
Follow us on Facebook: Chapman University Facebook
On Twitter: @ChapmanU
On YouTube: Chapman University YouTube Channel

CHILDREN'S BOOKS 

Introducing Authors, Illustrators, and Publishers of Children's Books

Amy Costales
Rene Colato Lainez
Mara Price
Amada Irma Price
James Luna
Lara Lacamara

In addition to being a presenter at the Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival held  at Cal State Dominguez University, October 13,  I had the fun of attending several workshops on writing children's books.  Hearing the stories of dedication and the patience required to achieve their success was inspiring.  What I particularly enjoyed was that all of the following creative artists reflected their heritage in some fashion, their roots.  

Amy Costales is a prolific author.  Bilingual Collection Amy Costales Collection 

Rene Colato Lainez

AMADA IRMA PEREZ 

	Nana's Big Surprise/Nana, Que Sorpresa! - Buy on Amazon.com Finally, the day arrived when we all piled into our old blue station wagon and drove to meet Nana at the bus station. "There she is!" I cried. Through the bus window, I could see her familiar flowered rebozo... It was strange not seeing Tata next to her.  Nana's move from Mexico should be a joyous occasion. But this summer Nana is coming to California because Tata, beloved husband and abuelo, has died. Amada and her five brothers hope to cheer her up with a surpriseÑa coop full of fluffy yellow chicks, just like the ones Nana raised with Tata in Mexico. But no matter how hard everyone tries to make Nana feel better, it seems like nothing can bring a smile to her face. That is, until one day the chicks reveal a little surprise of their own.
	My Diary from Here to There/Mi Diario De Aqui Hasta Alla - Buy on Amazon.com One night, young Amada overhears her parents whisper of moving from Mexico to the other side—to Los Angeles, where greater opportunity awaits. As she and her family make their journey north, Amada records her fears, hopes, and dreams for their lives in the United States in her diary. How can she leave her best friend behind? What if she can't learn English? What if her family never returns to Mexico? From Juárez to Mexicali to Tijuana to Los Angeles, Amada learns that with her family's love and her belief in herself, she can make any journey and weather any change—here, there, anywhere.
	My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito - Buy on Amazon.com "Aha! This was it! This could be my room. I imagined it with my own bed, table, and lamp—a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream." Five little brothers, two parents, and a house full of visiting relatives make a young Mexican American girl feel crowded. She loves her family, but how can she get a little space of her own? Her loving and understanding family works together to turn a small storage space into her very own room. This delightful memoir of a childhood in El Monte, California, pours from the pen of first-time author and bilingual teacher Amada Irma Pérez with exuberance and skill. Renowned painter Maya Christina Gonzalez brings the captivating scenes to life with bold colors and whimsical

Amada Irma Perez changed her life after more than 25 years of being a classroom teacher for kindergarten through university graduate classes when she wrote her first story in her journal the summer of 1998 at the Southwest Writing Project (SCWriP) at UCSB. With the encouragement of her fellow writers and Sheridan Blau, the director she decided to publish it. MY VERY OWN ROOM-Mi propio cuartito (Children‘s Book Press, 2000) won numerous awards including the prestigious, Tomas Rivera Children’s Book Award, was inducted into the Latino Literature Archives of the University of Southwest Texas, San Marcos, and is given to every newborn in San Antonio, Texas through the Library Foundation‘s “Born to Read” program. It has sold more than fifty thousand copies.

A Mexican piggy cookie escapes from the bakery before it can be eaten and eludes an ever-growing line of people pursuing it.

James Luna is a writer of varied genre.  This is his first children's book.  During his presentation, he spoke about a casual luncheon in which various writers were enjoying sharing story ideas. The subject came up about the Mexican ginger cookie shaped like a pig, el marranito, and the classic gingerbread cookie story.  

James was intrigued by the idea of borrowing the basic plot, but sharing it with a Mexican heritage foundation, characters, neighborhood, and even the running adventure.  He also included a jingle to go along with the story, El Cochinito Fugitivo.  

James and illustrator, Lara Lacamara never met before the publishing of the book.  The partnership was decided by Piñata Press.  Both artists expressing in this charming little bilingual  book, a  blending of two cultures, coming together in a delightful manner.

"My goal is to produce good multicultural children's literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see themselves as heroes, and where they can dream and have hope for the future."

BOOKS

Published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises, “A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie” will soon be available through distributors nationwide and from the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore, or by visiting barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.

Brittany Fisher, Publicist
2448 E. 81st St. #4802
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74137 
1.877.727.0697
bfisher@keymgc.com

PIG BEHIND THE BEAR By Maria Nieto
Debut Novel 

Floricanto Press and Berkeley Press; floricantopress.com; Now available at Amazon.com  (Floricanto Press and Berkeley Press; floricantopress.com)   For more information visit: www.pigbehindthebear.com 
http://www.amazon.com/Pig-Behind-Bear-Maria-Nieto/dp/148009367X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350793216&sr=8 -1&keywords=maria+nieto  

Brown in the Windy City: 
Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Postwar Chicago 
by Lilia Fernandez 

Cloth $45.00 ISBN: 9780226244259 Published November 2012
E-book $7.00 to $36.00 About E-books ISBN: 9780226244280 Published November 2012
University of Chicago Press, Lilia Fernandez
392 pages | 18 halftones, 9 maps, 13 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2012

Lilia Fernández, Associate Professor
fernandez.96@osu.edu 
Department of History and Latino/a Studies Program
The Ohio State University, 106 Dulles Hall
230 W. 17th Ave
Columbus, OH 43214
614-292-7884

My 15 Grandmothers by Genie Milgom

Sent by Roberto Calderon, Ph.D. beto@unt.edu

Latino soldiers
Cebu, Phillipines, WW II

USA LATINO PATRIOTS

Throughout the nine years it took Soulet to make the film, she interviewed approximately 275 Puerto Rican veterans over the phone and in person. Soulet says the majority of the 65th veterans live in Puerto Rico and Florida, but she has even interviewed a Mormon in Utah.

“The hardest part was selecting them…24 appear in the film,” says Soulet, who explains the most time- consuming part was the fundraising needed to fund the film and do the research. “There was very little information out there…I remember contacting the Center for Military History in Washington DC…I began forming relationships with people through the internet.”

The more she talked with veterans, the more committed to the project she got.

“There was a point that I had gone in so deep there was a point of no return,” says Soulet, who says she bonded deeply with the “viejitos,” as Soulet calls them, and found the subject matter of a lifetime. “They’re dying — you then feel, ‘If I give up, and all these years are wasted for nothing and their stories don’t get out,’ I would feel a tremendous guilt.”

Soulet, now 55, slowly had become the voice of the Puerto Rican soldiers that no one ever heard about.

“In my film a veteran says at the end, ‘I just want the American people to know we did our share,’” says the filmmaker, adding, “They would ask me, ‘Noemi, when are you going to finish?’ They wanted their story told.”

And she says years after the film has been completed, the veterans continue to call her.

Soulet recalls a story of a veteran who was wearing one of the 65th Regiment caps, which she sells on her Web site. “He went to pay for the meal, and the cashier recognized the cap and said, ‘Are you a Borinqueneer? I can’t charge you. You’re one of our heros.’ He called me, so proud, and I thought, ‘That’s why I did this.’”

Soulet says by taking nine years to complete her film, she’s formed relationships so strong that some of the men are like adoptive fathers to her.

“It really affects me and breaks my heart, because now they are going fast,” says Soulet about the passing of many of the veterans year by year. “I’ll get an e-mail from the veteran’s family saying they passed away, and that I meant so much to him.”

Soulet says in some cases, she only spoke to a veteran only one or two hours, but they never forgot those few minutes in which someone was truly listening.

“When they’re gone, and when I’m gone, this film will always be there,” says Soulet, who dedicates her days now doing national presentations about the 65th Regiment. “That’s my legacy, because I don’t have children…This is my baby.”

View a trailer at: http://nbclatino.com/2012/11/14/video-a-one-time-filmmaker-devotes-herself-to-puerto-rican-veterans-the-borinqueneers/#s:borinqueneers1 

Sent by Sal Valadez  salvaladez82@yahoo.com

Joe Sanchez invites readers to go to this site on the 65th  http://bluewallnypd.com/frame1.htm  bluewall@mpinet.net 

Puerto Rico's 65th Regiment U.S. Army Website belongs to Danny Nieves. He lives Upstate New York. His email is danny1946@optonline.net I've known him for years. Check it out and email him. I've known him for years. He's a good family man.

World War II pilot lived through 35 missions

Roberto Ruiz, 88, a 40-year resident of OC, served as a B-24 Liberator pilot during World War II. He flew bombing missions over Germany and is shown with a photo of himself taken in 1943 while he was in flight training school.

For Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15-Oct. 15, the Register asked readers to tell us about the experiences of Latino veterans and family members during World War II. This is the first in a series. "You don't know what scared is until you're up there and it's 40 degrees below zero up there and you're sweating like a horse," he says. It was the worst bombing raid he experienced while stationed in England during World War II.


Ruiz, 89, was born on Sept. 14, 1922, in San Diego, and grew up in Pacific Beach with an older brother, three sisters and his parents, immigrants from the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. His father owned a nursery, and by age 18 Ruiz was supervising men who were older than he was.

By the time war broke out on Dec. 7, 1941, Ruiz, a recent graduate from La Jolla High School, had already registered for the draft.
In 1942, Ruiz applied for the aviation cadet program and entered the service.

Originally, Roberto and his brother Raul wanted to join the Navy as fliers, but after passing a physical and written exam in San Diego and again in Los Angeles, they were denied enlistment.

The one-person board tried to discourage the brothers from joining, stating reasons such as no prior flying experience. When they argued, the board member finally told them he wasn't accepting Mexican Americans.

"We were the only Latino family who lived in Pacific Beach," he said. "We were raised in an Anglo community so I wasn't familiar with all this prejudice stuff. I remember coming home and telling my dad. He had a fit. I couldn't blame him."
After that incident, Roberto decided to apply to the U.S. Army Air Forces and enlisted in November 1942. Raul joined 5 months later.

Roberto Ruiz's first journey outside of California was a train ride to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he learned how to march in formation.

From Lincoln, Ruiz went to in Missoula, Montana for about four months, and then came to Santa Ana, to a preflight training station where he qualified for pilot school.

He began his primary training in Santa Maria, and completed the advanced phase in Douglas, Ariz. where he learned how to fly twin-engine planes and received his wings as second lieutenant.
In Pueblo, Colorado he learned how to the fly a B-24 Liberator, the four-engine airplane he would eventually use while stationed in England.

On one occasion during his advanced training, Ruiz lost two of his roommates when their airplane crashed. "Landing is the hardest," he said. "Being able to come down and as we say, grease it in, when you don't even know you're on the ground."

HEADING TO WAR
Just before Ruiz went overseas, he took a trip down to Albuquerque, N.M. from Pueblo, Colo. to visit his brother Raul, who was based there. They decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant where they became instant celebrities.

"The meceros (waiters), the cooks, everyone in the place were around our table!" They had never seen Mexican American officers.

Following his leave, Ruiz traveled 14 days by ship to get to England from New York. He arrived in 1943 at Hethel Airfield in Norwich, England. He was in the 389th Bombardment Group, 564th Squadron.

During each mission, the goal was to drop bombs on specific locations such as railroad yards, ball-bearing plants and aircraft factories to hamper the war effort on the German side.

A typical day to complete a mission would take over 15 hours. "They'd wake you up at 3 in the morning, you walk to breakfast, and from there go to briefing," he said. By 6 a.m. about 1,000 bombers would take off and fly at altitudes as high as 10,000 feet in formations. "You're up there with planes ahead of you and planes behind you and then you're bombing at 11 o'clock in the morning," he said.

During one of those missions, Ruiz's plane was hit and lost one of the engines and the brakes. Before he got to the coast another engine was lost due to flak. "By the time we got back to England we were 200 or 300 feet off the ground, looking for a place to land," he said. Ruiz managed to land the plane safely and was later awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. It took Ruiz about 10 months to complete 35 missions, sometimes flying up to four days in a row.

NEW LIFE
After four years in the service, Ruiz opted for college instead of re-enlistment and attended San Diego State, where he received his bachelor's degree in geography.  

A couple of years later he became shareholder of Packaging Corporation of America. In 1966 he married his wife Gloria, who worked at the business. They have one son and two daughters. Nowadays, Ruiz, who has lived in Dana Point for the last 21 years and in Anaheim for 20 years before that, enjoys traveling around the world and visiting with his family. 

Looking back to his life in the military, Ruiz said he dislikes war, and would opt for a diplomatic resolution rather than the killing of young men's lives, citing casualty statistics from World War II to Afghanistan.  "A problem should be solved among people but not fighting and killing each other."

Contact the writer: 714-796-6999

Sent by Ricardo Valverde west13rifa@aol.com
SLIDE SHOW: World War II pilot lived through 35 missions, 11 Photos

The Fighting Medinas

President García Receives Inaugural Award

Viet Foundation Bestows ‘Local Hero’ Honors on CSUF President

Oct. 19, 2012

The newly formed Viet Foundation honored Cal State Fullerton President Mildred García with its first “Local Hero in Educational Excellence Award” Oct. 18 at its inaugural benefit concert and fashion show.

Eduardo M. Ochoa, president of Cal State Monterey Bay, introduced García to an audience of more than 200, calling her “a colleague who promotes higher education and business development training in the Vietnamese and minority community, and a person who is a staunch advocate of the mission of this new foundation.”

The Viet Foundation is the charitable arm of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, focused on promoting the Vietnamese American business community, forging educational partnerships and raising funds for student scholarships. Its co-founder and chamber president, CSUF alumnus Tam Nguyen, co-owner of Advance Beauty College, said García was selected for the foundation’s “most prestigious award” because of her visionary leadership and support of underrepresented and minority students.

“What an honor,” García said at the event, which took place at AnQi by Crustacean Restaurant in Costa Mesa. “I am so humbled to receive this distinguished award. It really touches my heart to be embraced by this community. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

She told the crowd of mostly business owners and chamber members that Cal State Fullerton is “your university.” She invited them to visit often and thanked the foundation for raising funds for student scholarships, especially during today’s tough economic times.

By: Mimi Ko Cruz, 657-278-7586
http://news.fullerton.edu/news/2012fa/Viet-Award.asp 

As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'

Soldiers Lost and Found: Students Rediscover the Fallen
By Michael M. Phillips

ST. JOHN, Ind.—Soon after she finished her junior year at Lake Central High School last spring, Marissa Emery visited the American war cemetery in St. Avold, France. Walking in, she could see just the blank backs of the white marble crosses, a vast, grassy field of the anonymous dead.

Only when she was standing among the grave markers did Ms. Emery turn and see that the front of each one bore a name, including that of the man she was there to visit: Cpl. Homer "Binks" Gettler. The 21-year-old soldier was killed fighting his way across France in 1944, while pining for Betty, the fiancée waiting for him at home in Indiana.

Ms. Emery gathered a pile of small stones in her T-shirt. On top of Cpl. Gettler's cross she arranged them in the outline of a heart. She took one dark rock and threw it against the paved pathway until it broke in two. Ms. Emery placed half in the center of the heart. The other half she tucked into her backpack. That was for Betty.

Some 1,750 Indiana soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam and many more in World War II. Ms. Emery's high-school history teacher, Tom Clark, wants his students to know that each one comes with a story.

See videos, photographs and documents telling the stories of some of Indiana's casualties of war.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443890304578006682260044890.html

Sent by Juan Marinez  

Voces Oral History Project

Formerly the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project, the Voces Oral History Project was founded by Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez in 1999 with the goal to recognize and document the Latino & Latina contributions to the WWII era.  
Since its expansion, this project continues to document and create a better awareness of the contributions of Latinos and Latinas of the WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War generations.  You can read and learn more about the events related to the project by "liking" the page on Facebook and following on Twitter.
http://www.facebook.com/VocesOralHistoryProject 
http://www.twitter.com/VocesProject  

Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely, Gus Chavez & Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Co-Founders, Defend the Honor

EARLY LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

Re-enactment of the 1813 Battle of Medina  
In front of the Alamo
November 10, 2012

Joaquin de Arrendondo 

Tejanos advance towards the Spanish Royalist Army

For information, contact: 
Tejanos in Action
Dan Arrellano 
 darellano@austin.rr.com
512-826-7569

PBS Documentarian, Bill Millet who is currently filming the epic “Texas before the Alamo,”  filmed the Battle of Medina reenactment to be included in a film which will be released on April 6^th 2013. 

Battle of Medina mystery site gaining recognition by Mark D. Wilson. To view article click on this link below: 
http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/southside/news/article/Battle-of-Medina-mystery-site-gaining-recognition-4050717.php 

Spanish SURNAMES

Descendents of Charlemagne
Apellidos Españoles

Charlemagne & Hildegard
Luis the Pious, the King of Aquitaine & Judith of Bavaria
Giselda & Eberhard, the Duke of Friuli
Ingeltrude & Henry of Franconia
Hedwiga & Otto I, the Duke of Saxony
Henry I (the Fowler) King of Germany & St Matilda de Ringelheim
Otto I, the King of Germany & Edith de Wessex
|
Liutgrade & Conrad, the Duke of Lorraine
|
Otto I , the Duke of Carinthia & Judith de Bavaria
Henry von Speyer & Adelaide de Alsace
Conrad II, the King of Germany & Gisela de Swabia
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor & Agnes de Poitou
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor & Bertha de Savoy
Agnes of Germany & Frederick von Staufen, the Duke of Swabia
Frederich von Hohenstaufen, the Duke of Swabia & Judith de Bavaria
Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor & Beatrice, the Countess of Burgundy
Philip von Hohenstaufen, King of Germany & Irene Angelina, Princess of Byzantium
Elizabeth (Beatriz) Hohenstaufen of Swabia & St. Fernando III King of Castile-Leon
Alfonso X, King of Galicia, Castile & Leon & Violante of Aragon, Princess of Aragon
Sancho IV, King of Castile & Leon & Maria Alfonsa de Molina
Ferdinand IV, King of Castile & Constance, Princess of Portugal
Alfonso XI, King of Castile & Leonor Nunez de Guzman y Ponce de Leon
|Enrique Trastamara II, Rey de Castilla & Dona Elvira Iniguez de la Vega
Alfonso Enriquez de Castilla, Count of Norona y Gijon & Beatriz Enriquez de Norona & Ruy de Periera, el Viejo,
(Nobiliario Genealogico de los Reyes y Titulos de Espana, by Alonso Lopez de Haro. Vol. I, page 19).
Beatriz de Norona & Ruy Diaz de Mendoza y Guzman, III Senor de Moron
Ruy Diaz de Mendoza y Norona, IV Senor de Moron & Aldonza de Avellaneda-y-Zuniga
Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, V Senor de Moron & Luisa Velazquez de Cuellar y Velasco
Ruy Diaz de Mendoza y Cuellar, VI Senor de Moron & Catalina de Arrellano del Rio
Ruy Diaz de Mendoza y Arellano del Rio & Catalina Salazar y de la Cadena
Magdalena de Mendoza-Salazar & Vicente de Saldivar y Onate, Knight of the Order of St James
Magdelena Saldivar-Mendoza & Juan Guerra de Reza
Captain Vicente de Saldivar-y-Reza & Maria (Farias) de Sosa,

Compiled by John Inclan
November 2012

Apellidos Españoles
http://apellidosespanoles.blogspot.com.es/
eprieto@eyplibros.es 

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

Summary of Free FamilySearch.org classes taught in Spanish Online

Resumen de las clases de FamilySearch.org

Parte 1
Búsquedas en registros indexados 
·        Por persona
·        Aplicando filtros 
·        Por cónyuge
·        Por padres
·        Por número de batch/lote

Parte 2
·        Búsquedas en imágenes
·        Cómo encontrar una imagen indexada pero sin 
       enlace directo a la imagen
·        El uso de índices
·        ¿Qué hay de nuevo en FamilySearch?

Parte 3 
·        Trees / Búsquedas en Árboles
·        Catalog / Cómo usar el catálogo
·        Books / Búsquedas en libros digitalizados 
·        Learn / Cómo recibir ayuda en línea

o   Wiki, Clases, Foros
o   Facebook

Hay volantes para las clases que se pueden bajar para más información.

Para ver una serie de tres clases de cómo usar el sitio de FamilySearch.org para encontrar los registros de sus antepasados haga clic en los siguientes enlaces.

Parte 1 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-1/639
Parte 2 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-2/640  
Parte 3 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-3/650

Summary of FamilySearch.org classes 

Part 1
Searches in indexed records
·        Individual search
·        Applying filters
·        Spouse search
·        Parents search
·        Batch Number search

Part 2
·        Searches in images
·        How to find a record that has been indexed but does not have
       a direct link to the image
·        The use of indexes
·        What’s new at FamilySearch?

Part 3
·        Trees – Searches in online trees submitted to FamilySearch
·        Catalog – How to use the FamilySearch catalog
·        Books – Searches in digitized books
·        Learn – How to receive help online

o   Wiki, online classes, forums
o   Facebook

There are downloadable handouts for the classes with more information.

To view these three classes on how to use the FamilySearch.org site to find the records of your ancestors, click on the following links.

Part 1 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-1/639
Part 2 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-2/640
Part 3 - https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/familysearch-org-parte-3/650

CUENTOS
"Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear." - Mark Twain

A letter from the Post Office...

Sent by Kym Stockman, kymer1@juno.com

"They are inseparable," says Geoff. "Bramble walks between her legs, and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary. It's a real treat to see them."

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

La Llorona: The Rebel Spirit of Chavela Vargas
DEC 5, 8 pm
Walt Disney Concert Hall

A one-of-a-kind acoustic tribute to the late legendary musical rebel Chavela Vargas, including passionate renditions of "Un Mundo Raro" and "La Llorona" featuring three fiery and powerful Latina vocalist artists.

Peruvian vocalist TANIA LIBTERTAD is considered one of the greatest singers in Latin America today. She began singing romantic boleros at the age of five, building up a repertoire of more than 300 boleros by the time she was sixteen. At 21, she was invited to a political song festival in Cuba and began singing protest songs and sentimental ballads with musician-activists of the nueva trova movement until moving to Mexico. Over the course of her career, Ms. Libertad has made over 36 recordings that have sold more than two million copies combined. She has performed in concert throughout the US, Central America, and the Andean countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia and has collaborated with such artists as Miguel Bosé, Ruben Blades, Cesária Évora, Mercedes Sosa, and Plácido Domingo. Ms. Libertad has been named an Ambassador for Peace by Unesco, Comendadora by the Peruvian government, and a member of the Order of Rio Branco by the Brazilian government. In early 2012, she began celebrating 50 years as a performer with two sold out performances at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City’s most prestigious concert hall, and began an extensive tour throughout Latin America. She makes her Carnegie Hall debut with this concert.  http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/tania-libertad

ELY GUERRA is one of the key artists in contemporary Mexican music, releasing six recordings in 19 years, and touring throughout Mexico, Latin America, and around the world, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, England, and Spain. In 2010, she received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for Hombre Invisible, in which she collaborated with such acclaimed artists as Juanes, Alvaro Henríquez of Los Tres, Emmanuel "Meme" del Real of Café Tacuba, Gustavo Santaolalla, Enrique Bunbury, and Gilberto Cerezo of Kinky. Guerra has also appeared on the soundtracks for the films Amores Perros, De la Calle, El viaje de Teo, and Sangre de Familia, among others. Among many career highlights, Ms. Guerra has appeared with Sting in Mexico City concerts supporting education projects, participated in the tribute to José Saramago at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and sang during the Mexican Bicentennial independence celebrations and during the the 2011 recent Pan American Games. She makes her Carnegie Hall debut with this concert.  Ely was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.
http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/ely-guerra

EUGENIA LEÓN got her start in the nueva canción ("new song") folk music movement, dedicated to social change, which played a role in the social upheavals in Portugal, Spain, and Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, just days after an earthquake devastated her hometown of Mexico City, Ms. León earned the top prize at the OTI International Song Festival in Spain. With over 25 recordings and a repertoire that ranges from contemporary composers to traditional Mexican and Latin American music and an interest in incorporating elements of theater, cabaret, and opera into her performances, Ms. León is not locked into any one genre. Her association with actors, poets, painters, and writers imparts a distinct and rich dimension to her music. Ms. León has appeared in prestigious events around the world such as the Pan Pacific Music Festival in Japan, the Kennedy Center's AmericArtes Festival in Washington, DC, Expo Seville in Spain, and the Americas Summit in Cartagena, Colombia. Earlier this year, Ms. León performed "La Llorona," a song made famous by Chavela Vargas in front of the great singer herself. She makes her Carnegie Hall debut with this concert.  http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/eugenia-leon

Presented by LA Phil. For tickets/information visit http://www.laphil.com/http://www.laphil.com/tickets/la-llorona-rebel-spirit-of-chavela-vargas/2012-12-05?utm_
source=all_somos&utm_campaign=lallorona

Revolution changed Mexico, and Orange County
Last in a series by The Orange County Register

On Nov. 20, Mexico commemorates the 100th anniversary of the start of the war. During the 1910-1920 conflict, about a million of Mexico ’s 15 million citizens died, and nearly 900,000 immigrated to the United States . For Hispanic Heritage Month, the Register asked readers to write about their families’ experiences during the Mexican Revolution. You can find the contributors listed below, or click through the pictures to see their photos.

Many of Orange County 's older Mexican American families trace their roots here to forebears who left Mexico during the war and settled in the Southwest. A number of non-Latinos also have family stories to tell of the war.

A scene of men fighting during the Mexican Revolution. Part of the caption reads, "Firing Line. Corner. Calle Independencia." 

ON THE TRACKS TO THE WESTMINSTER MEXICAN BARRIO,
1870 – 1940, Part 6 of 7 © Albert V Vela, Ph.D.
cristorey@comcast.net
December 1, 2012

This is Part Six of a seven-part series of an article about the origins of the Westminster Mexican barrio. Originally the author planned a six-part series but has decided to add a seventh segment to be published in January 2013. Since 2005 the author has been doing research for a book on the history of the Mexican barrio in Westminster, CA. Westminster was a Presbyterian Colony founded by Rev. Lemuel P. Webber in 1869/70. It is in the western part of Orange County in Southern California. Cities within 15 miles of Westminster are Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Stanton, Buena Park, Anaheim, Fullerton, La Habra, Orange, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach.
Shortly after California became a state in 1850, a small number of colonies and settlements were established in what was to be Orange County (1889). These were Campo Alemán or Anaheim (1857), Santa Ana (1869), Westminster (1869), Orange, and Tustin. Westminster became the largest area in Los Angeles County to be developed yet its growth stagnated (Bollman, 1983, p. 91; Guinn, 1902, p. 141; Donaldson, Vol. 2, 1990, p. 153). Pre-existing settlements in Southern California were El Pueblo de Los ángeles (1781), Misión de San Juan Capistrano (1776), New Mexican colony of Agua Mansa / San Salvador (1845) on the Santa Ana River, San Bernardino; and the Mormon Colony in San Bernardino (1851). By the 1830s a significant Mexican settlement of Yorba/Peralta rancheros and their families existed in upper and lower Santa Ana River. It became a part of Orange County in 1889 and is now in the city of Anaheim (Mexican L.A. Census of 1836).

The Peralta Adobe
The Peralta Adobe (1871) sits behind Tarbell’s Realty Office at this location (2012).
(Courtesy Anaheim Public Library)

Why Westminster failed to prosper. Bollman (1983) explained Westminster’s failure to grow by pointing to its lack of an adequate wharf, the late arrival of a railroad in 1902, the 500-mile distance to San Francisco, and exorbitant railway rates (pp. 92-93). Donaldson looks at this seeming puzzle this way: This was one of the earliest settled areas in the county and its rich peat soil became legendary for producing giant vegetables. Yet this area was unable to participate in the early economic growth of the county because of repeated delays in receiving direct railroad service (p. 153).
The other towns (Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin) were serviced by the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe Railroads in their early development. For instance, the Southern Pacific reached Anaheim in 1875 and Santa Ana in 1878. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe RR arrived in Orange County when its tracks connected San Bernardino to Orange then Santa Ana in 1887 (Harloe, 1979, p 44; Donaldson, Vol. 1, pp 46-47). The Santa Fe built its line through the Santa Ana Canyon with depots in Santa Ana, Orange, Saint James, Richfield (Atwood), Yorba, Rincón, Corona, and Olive as well as erected a long trestle over the west end of the Santa Ana River (Donaldson, Vol. 1, p. 46). Farmers in the Santa Ana Valley were heartened by the completion of the Santa Fe into Orange County. Not so Westminster farmers who didn’t enjoy the benefits of direct railway service for another 19 years! The Yorba depot was at Orangethorpe Avenue and Imperial Highway (Donaldson, Vol. 1, pp 46-47). As was the case with other Santa Fe stations, the one at Yorba was eliminated in the course of time (Donaldson, Vol. 1, p. 46).

Santa Fe Depot at Yorba

Santa Ana Newport

Attempts to connect with Westminster:   The lack of direct railway service to Westminster was not due to lack of foresight. The town was to be included in the Anaheim Railroad (1870) and in the construction of the Pacific & San Bernardino Railroad (1868). Anaheimers pledged $25,000 while San Bernardino businessmen pledged $5,000 per mile for the line (J. W. Robinson, 1977/1985, pp 38-39). The P&SB RR Company incorporated in San Francisco on September 23, 1868 (J.W. Robinson, 1977/1985, p. 39). This line would have connected the Anaheim Landing (near Seal Beach) and San Bernardino but failed to materialize (J.W. Robinson, p. 39; Donaldson, Vol. 2, p. 153). Anaheim Landing was a short five miles from Westminster (W. W. Robinson, 1966, p. 68).

1868 Abel Stearns Map showing the proposed Anaheim & San Bernardino Railway. Note Ontiveros’ Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana; don B Yorba’s Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana; Anaheim Colony [square]; roads originating in Los Angeles, one passing through Anaheim, the other below it; ditch from Santa Ana River to Anaheim; adobes on south side of SA River; dotted line from Anaheim to Anaheim Landing in lower left. Roads from Los Angeles led to Mission San Juan Capistrano & San Diego LA County population was 425,000.

In 1890 the hopes of Westminster towns people were resurrected when local people incorporated the Santa Ana & Westminster Railroad (SA&W) (Donaldson, p. 153). At public hearings in Santa Ana, residents from Westminster were there to express their support, but some from Santa Ana were also present to object to the route that affected their homes and properties. The City Council of Santa Ana approved an amended Second Street franchise in June 1891. Grading began in

October and continued the following month. By November 3, 1891 workers laid the track as far as Spurgeon Street and faced strong opposition by the affected property owners (Donaldson, p. 154).

The matter would be settled in court proceedings that went on for over a year. In December 1892 eight plaintiffs were awarded about $2,000 each. The SA&W Railway folded due to the amount of damages the court awarded the plaintiffs (Donaldson, pp 154-155).

The following year the Santa Ana & Newport Railway (SA&N) bought the Westminster Company with the proviso that it would eventually provide service to Westminster. Plans to this effect took place in 1897. The SA&N decided to build a line from Newport Beach, reach Shell Beach (Huntington Beach), and from there the township of Westminster. A crew of 34 men proceeded to lay track through the peat lands of nearby Westminster getting as far as D.E. Smeltzer’s celery ranch. They laid the last rail on October 27, 1897 (Donaldson, pp 155-158). Smeltzer, a principal stop on the SA&N, was two miles south of Westminster’s downtown and in the vicinity of farmlands owned by its residents.

The Southern Pacific buys the SA&N Railway. Two years after the SA&N reached Smeltzer, two Clark brothers purchased the railroad in 1899. As owners of the Los Alamitos sugar factory, they bought the SA&N with the idea of acquiring lower freight rates for its inbound sugar beets. But the Southern Pacific, which was already servicing the factory, opposed the Clarks’ intentions. Finally in negotiations with Collis Huntington of the Southern Pacific, the Espee conceded rates favorable to the Clarks. As part of the agreement the brothers sold the entire SA&N Railway to the Southern Pacific. This agreement was announced on June 14, 1899 (Donaldson, p. 159).

Onward to Westminster. Seven years later in 1906, Southern Pacific crews commenced grading and laying track north toward Westminster. Work stopped, however, due to flooding in another part of the state, and resumed the summer of 1907. This time the grading and laying track proceeded due south from Benedict (Stanton) reaching Smeltzer on July 31, 1907. Trains ran the following months from Anaheim to Benedict, Smeltzer, Smeltzer and Newport Beach. Before the end of the year, Westminster got a depot, section house, water tank, side track, and beet dump (Donaldson, pp 165-166). Donaldson stated, “This station in the heart of the fertile peat lands originated a substantial portion of the extensive agricultural traffic carried by Espee in western Orange County” (pp 166-167).  

Espee crew laying track into Westminster from Stanton 1907. 

This new mixed train began at Los Alamitos in the morning, running east to Anaheim, and making a round trip to Tustin and back to Anaheim. It then went south to Santa Ana and Newport, up the old SA&N line to Huntington Beach and Smeltzer, continuing on to Westminster, Benedict, and Anaheim before returning west to Los Alamitos for the night (Donaldson, p. 167).

Santa Ana becomes the County seat. As noted, Westminster’s local economy lagged behind that of Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, and Tustin. When Santa Ana was voted the seat of newly created Orange County in 1889, it soon surpassed Anaheim in prominence, wealth and population. Impressive banks, businesses, theaters, and hotels were along Fourth Street in Santa Ana. By the 1940s all of Orange County traveled to downtown Santa Ana to do their weekly shopping and perhaps taking in a movie.

The 1930s businesses and homes along Westminster Boulevard. In the 1930s near the Plaza were a Presbyterian and a Mexican Methodist church, a beautiful park with softball field with lights for night games, and a county library. On the north side of Westminster Boulevard from west to east were the Ray Penhall residence with Idabelle Penhall’s Beauty Shop in back, the Dry Goods Store, Zink’s Barber Shop, a drug store-café (Paysen’s in the ‘50s), Shorty Cavanaugh’s Cantina, Lessig’s Garage next to Shorty’s Cantina, a motion picture theater on the second floor, the Odd Fellow’s Hall, Orel Hare’s Garage, Hare-McCoy home, Day’s grocery store (later Ray Burns), the O.K. Shoe Shop, Cozad’s General Store (later E.J. Mendard’s).

West of Hoover Street and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks were the depot, water tank, sidetrack, and beet dump. Shorty’s Cantina, barrio men’s popular watering hall, was affectionately rechristened El Patito/The Little Duck. Not only was Cavanaugh short but he also used a cane and waddled like a duck. A wagon road ran between Day’s Store and the Hare-McCoy home.

Oral Hare’s Garage

Orel Hare’s Garage, circa 1920s.

Fiesta Parade ca. 1948 Odd Fellows Hall built in 1900. 

On the south side, also west to east, were the Penhall Bros Garage and Truck Yard, Goldie’s Barber Shop, a second hand store, a hotel that housed a café and Dr. Foster’s Office, Harry Penhall’s Pool Hall, Hagen’s Drug Store, the former Patterson Feed Store, and the Post Office. Clyde Day made him home above the Post Office. Then came the homes of Ray Burns, Terhume and Curtis families. Across Hoover was the San Pedro Lumber Company. Directly across the street from the Lumber Company was the attractive Westminster School. All the business establishments on the north and south side of the Boulevard were between Cherry Street on the west and Hoover Street on the east. The Southern Pacific’s section house was at the SW side of Westminster Blvd and Hoover Street.

I surmise that in the 1940s the Espee no longer needed the section house property. By then additional units were built and used as summer cabins. A grove of Eucalyptus trees shaded the cabins giving them privacy Not drawn in the sketch by the Orange County Recorder’s Office (1993) was the world famous goldfish farm run by Japanese American, Joe S. Akiyama, located on the NW corner of Goldenwest Avenue and Bolsa Streets

Sketch of businesses
Orange County Assessor’s Office Sketch 1930.  

                                     
  East of Illinois St, Hare’s Garage, Days Store later Ray Burns Store (Westminster Historical Society Museum)

The Westminster Main School that became all-white in 1929 was located on the northeast side of Hoover Street and Westminster Boulevard. The Hoover Mexican school was conveniently built in the middle of the barrio to isolate Mexican American children from the “superior” americanos. Here the Ledesma family operated a mom and pop store in the barrio off Olive Street in the 1940s. A Mexican American Pentecostal group held services in a former grocery store also in the 1940s. A drainage ditch ran south paralleling Hoover Street from Westminster Blvd. An eighth of a mile past the Hazard dirt road, the ditch turned west toward Goldenwest Street. Trees lined both sides of this long stretch hiding the ditch from view. This was the favored location for fishing crawdads in summer. Once there you were in a different world, the lords of our kingdom, and it didn’t cost a dime other than worry by our moms. Fishing crawdads (fresh water crustacean) was a tradition passed on from one generation to another. In going crawdading, I’d tell my mom, “Vamos a ir al monte / We’re going to the woods.

The Golden Age in the Westminster Mexican Barrio: 1940s

Explaining the Golden Age of the 1940s. The author was fortunate to have been born in 1938 in the Westminster barrio. He was the eighth born to Margarito and Juana Vela who immigrated to Los Angeles on November 1926 with their two daughters, Dolores (1923) and Julia (1926). They left Mexico at the height of the religious persecution of the Catholic Church by President Plutarco Calles. They joined dad’s brother Valentín who was living in Sotelo/Sawtelle, a community in west Los Angeles near Santa Monica and UCLA. In short order they resided in the Mexican barrios of Wilmington (1930 US Census), Arlington, Santa Ana (Artesia Street), Stanton (1931) finally finding a permanent home in Westminster circa 1932.

The Westminster barrio as small and intimate as in 1919 with as many as 60 or more families. This was not the first time mom was in California. At age 15 she had accompanied her dad, our grandfather whom we call papa Juan. He worked in the Long Beach shipyards during WWI in 1918.

Margarito/Juana Vela

Flag reads, “Viva Cristo Rey”

La vida en el barrio. Growing up in the barrio was special. We all spoke Spanish, acquired English, and demonstrated care and respect for our neighbors. In the early 1940s when we got a church of our own, mexicano altar boys would ring the bell calling families to Sunday Mass. One afternoon during Holy Week I became aware of how quiet everything was in our barrio. No music from radios playing or dogs barking! On my way home from Ray Burns Store, I felt as though I was the only person in Westminster. The silence was palpable! Such was the respect for the meaning of Holy Week in our little barrio.  

 Alien Head Tax Receipt  

Downtown Santa Ana. Saturdays were special. I recall the excitement of the ride to Fourth Street in Santa Ana where mom and dad shopped for our family of ten at the A&P. My parents invariably bought $20.00 worth of groceries packed in the back seat and trunk of our 1936 streamlined DeSoto. We named our car la Tortuga because it was shaped like a tortoise on wheels! They bought a 100 lb sack of La Espiga de Oro flour and a 100 lb sack of pinto beans at (Cruz) Barrio’s Market near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street in Santa Ana. La piña was another popular brand. Barrio women “made aprons, pillow cases, quilts, dolls, dish clothes, embroidered blouses and skirts, etc. from the flour sacks” (Angie Quezada, email of November 3, 2012).  

Fourth Street downtown Santa Ana, 
Circa 1910

Aerial of Downtown Santa Ana

The flour was for the making of tortillas that mom would prepare for us daily on our wood stove. I would hang around in the kitchen like a little beggar and wait for my hot gordita/little fat one. This was double the thickness of an ordinary tortilla. Today’s commercially made tortillas are about half the thickness of mom’s ordinary tortillas, and less tasty! We kids made the original Fritos snacks at home with day-old tortillas!

Sal Vela
Sal Vela at home on Spruce Street Westminster 

Mexican American parents decide to fight school segregation in Orange County. In 1944 Mexican parents from Westminster, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and El Modena (near Orange) decided to fight the segregation of their children. The matter went to court in 1945. In September of this year five Vela children reported to school at the white 17^th Street School (aka Westminster School). This was before Judge Paul McCormick ruled against the defendant school districts in 1946. The four school boards of education appealed Judge McCormick’s ruling to the Ninth District Court in San Francisco. The seven judges ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in 1947. The boards of education decided to lick their wounds! Nevertheless Santa Ana continued to segregate Mexicans into the early ‘50s. El Modena also dragged its feet for a number of years unwilling to comply with Judge McCormick’s 1946 decision.

Photo: Letter signed by Mexican parents

37 Mexican American parents sign petition requesting integration, 1944. Sixty-eight years ago, barrio parents signed a petition in which they called attention to civic issues that bothered them, namely, that:

their children were being segregated; “the American children of Mexican extraction” were forced to attend Hoover; the segregation of their children was not in their best interests not conducive towards friendly relations; segregation did not lead toward “eventual thorough Americanization of their children”; they opposed racial discrimination  

They conclude the letter by requesting that trustees investigate their concerns and see to the elimination of segregation. The parents make the point that their sons, “all American born,” are fighting for democracy. (Paradoxically, the town opened Hoover School in 1929 for the “Americanization” of students. Their true intent was to isolate Mexican American students).

The Westminster Elementary School Board of Trustees acknowledged the letter at their regular meeting of September 19, 1944. At this meeting were “representatives of the Hoover school Mexican colony…and accompanied by Messrs. Barrios, Vega [sic, Viega], and Diago [sic, Tarango], of the Latin American Voters Counsel [sic, Council, Latin American Voters League].” Colony representatives urged unification of schools. The Trustees lamented that the bond election of August 25, 1944 was voted down, and that the “system of segregation was inherited by them” (Minutes of September 19, 1944).

Analysis of relationships among the signers of the letter. Some were related through marriage: Felícitas and Gonzalo Méndez, Frank and Soledad Vidaurri, Tomás and María Luisa Estrada, don Dolores Méndez, and don Ernesto Peña. The Bermúdez brothers of Rufus, Juan, Saturnino, Felix, and Camilo were the Méndez neighbors on East Main Street when the Méndez family arrived in 1919. Seven of the 37 parties lived in the northern section of the barrio, la Liga: don Ralph Dîaz, (ranchero on north Goldenwest Avenue), doña Elvira Zapata, don Irineo Hernández, Frank & Soledad Vidaurri, Tomás and Mary Louise Estrada, and, Felícitas and Gonzalo Méndez. Eleven of the signatories were married couples while 15 signed as singles. All signatories were well regarded and known to each other.

Future US Supreme Court Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall visits family on Spruce Street. Around 1945/46 Thurgood Marshall called on our neighbors, the Felix and Mercedes Alarcón family. Their precocious nine year old daughter, Shirley Sterett, was surprised to see this big black man standing there under their porch. Shirley explained:

[Attorney] Thurgood Marshall was knocking at my door to talk to mom. Why I remember is that I’d never seen a black man before. He was a big black man when I opened the door (phone interview, December 29, 2011).

I asked Shirley how she knew that the man was Attorney Marshall so she replied:

Not long ago I was watching TV two years ago. I hadn’t made the connection until I saw a photograph of him [in the program]. The television program mentioned his name. . .I saw a photograph of him. I got into it [TV program] after I heard Sylvia Méndez’ name (Gonzalo Méndez’ oldest daughter). Then they mentioned Westminster. I don’t doubt it because he was there just as [Superintendent Richard] Harris was there (phone interview, December 29, 2011).

About 1943 the Alarcón family made their home on Spruce Street across from the Vela home. Shirley’s aunts and uncles on both sides of her family were highly educated. Mercedes, for instance, graduated from Moorpark High School (Ventura, California) and studied nursing in college. Her uncle Albert Alarcón, graduated from Fullerton Junior College shortly before serving in WWII. A cousin, Consuelo Connie Alarcón, earned a Fulbright Scholarship (perhaps while at the University of California, Berkeley). Previously she had gone to the Hoover School, Huntington Beach Union HS, Fullerton Junior College, and San Jose State. After four years of postgraduate study in Spain, she returned home and became a member of the faculty at Johnson Junior High School in Westminster (email of January 21, 2012).

Shirley’s mother was elected President of the Hoover School PTA where Shirley and Theresa, her sister, entered third grade, and their brother Herman kindergarten. Mercedes felt dissatisfied by Hoover’s weak curriculum. She complained that the students were not being taught properly, that there was no discipline, that they [the students] were crowded into three classrooms, that the bathrooms were dirty, and that the students didn’t speak English nor were they being taught.

In due time Mercedes told Superintendent Harris that she wanted her children placed at the 17^th Street School, that if necessary she would speak to the Orange County board of education. Shortly after, the superintendent visited Mercedes to tell her that her two girls could attend the white school because they spoke English well, and because of the fact that Mercedes was fully bilingual and well educated. Obviously it helped that their mother was well aware of the educational process, knew her rights, and was not afraid to use her political power. Consequently the girls were placed in the fourth grade. Shirley graduated from the eighth grade in 1949. She remembers three Mexican American classmates from the Mexican Methodist Church. Their father was the pastor of the church.

Shirley revealed that as President of the Hoover PTA, Mercedes encouraged mothers to send their children to the 17^th Street School.

At this time my mother was trying to get the people together to try to get equal education for their children. Mom would come home so upset with the people’s attitudes. I know she attended many meetings. She gave up on them. All they did was criticize her (S Sterrett email, January 21, 2012).

Trinidad Vega Castillo. In the ’30s-‘40s, Trini studied at Hoover School up to the sixth grade. She explained that she had a vision problem and because of this she wasn’t performing well. Therefore, her teacher, Mr Micelli recommended that she drop out of school and go to work. She was 15 at the time.

Trini believed that Felix Alarcón was responsible for taking “his girls out of Hoover and had them go to school with the gringos.” Parents paid monthly dues of $0.25 for membership in the PTA (phone interview, December 30, 2011).

Mexican parents decide to join the bandwagon. Trini recalls that when the people learned that the Alarcón girls were at the white school, barrio parents began to say, “If they’re there (17^th Street School), our kids are going there too.” In their new way of thinking parents began to consider why their sons were fighting the Germans and Japanese in World War II. To quote Trini: “Our children are fighting the war, all fighting for us” (phone interview, December 30, 2011).

Trini sounded emotional when she commented, “I never thought our parents cared for us but they did care; the love they have for our children” (phone interview).

The love and generosity of parishioners. In 1948 Blessed Sacrament parishioners erected our Catholic school in great part by labor donated by Mexicans and whites alike. Four Vela children attended the opening of our new school. Our oldest brother Salvador, had graduated from the 17^th Street School and was junior at Huntington Beach High School. Three of us, close in age, graduated from Blessed Sacrament in 1951, 1952 and 1953. Connie and I also graduated from Santa Ana’s new Mater Dei High School (1950) in 1955 and ’56. Tony’s graduation from Huntington Beach HS was the following year.

El Padre Juanito McFadden as missionary in Lima, Peru 
The Tidings, Nov 26, 1965 

The Columban Sisters at Blessed Sacrament School. Looking back, the Columban Sisters, our teachers at Blessed Sacrament, played a critical role in forming us academically and spiritually. They prepared me to excel at Mater Dei High School (1952-1956) and graduate from Loyola University (1956-1960) now Loyola Marymount University. Forty years later in 2000 I earned my doctorate degree from the University of Connecticut. Along the way I studied at a number of California colleges including California State College at Fullerton and Long Beach State College (now universities), the University of California at Irvine, the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterey, Mexico where I earned my Master’s degree. I retired after 37 years in the field of education. This included teaching three years at Mater Dei High School (1961-64), my Alma Mater.  

Fiesta equestrian parade  

Fiesta equestrian parade considered the largest in California 1940s-1950s

Miss Bernie Pérez

New opportunities to reach for the stars. A major reason that I entitled this section The Golden Age in the 1940s is because when we came of age, life opened up countless opportunities to reach for the stars for me and my generation of Mexican Americans in Orange County. We acquired a new language and culture; kept our mother tongue; appreciated the values of our Mexican family heritage; made long lasting friends with those of our host culture; continued to practice our religious beliefs; had outstanding teachers, parents and older brothers and sisters who guided and encouraged us. . . We prepared ourselves for job opportunities that had been previously closed to us because of our heritage.

Invisible in Orange County. An uncomfortable part of living in Orange County was the feeling of invisibility, a sense of being ghost-like. Who exactly are you? What does society say you are? Are you Mexican? Mexican American? Spanish speaking? I felt embarrassed by the question. . .because to admit that I was Mexican was to say that I was less than whites. The history of persons of Mexican heritage lay hidden in our history books written by Anglo Americans.

Growing up we didn’t know that Anglo society had programmed Mexicans for menial, low-paying jobs like picking crops in the heat of the hot summer. In my case it mattered to dad that I learn the value of hard work in the picking oranges, tomatoes, strawberries, and string beans.

Note to the Readers

Part 7 will appear in the January 2013 issue of SomosPrimos.
It will include topics as the meaning of Gonzalo and Felícitas Méndez;
the Columban missionaries, softbol en el barrio; appearance of future
US Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall; the Alarcón family;
sudden appearance of a Japanese softball team in 1946. . .
For questions or comments, you may reach me at
cristorey@comcast.net.

Orange County Heritage Coordinating Council: Links 
 http://www.ocheritage.org/ 

LOS ANGELES, CA

Is nothing sacred? 
By Eddie Morin

An area that has been consecrated to the memory of the Latino veterans who gave their lives during World War Two, was desecrated by vandals in East Los Angeles on November 5, 2012. Dedicated to the Americans of Mexican Descent, the monument was established on May 30,1947 by a grateful community, who saw fit to honor their local heroes. This monument is located where the L.A. city limits meet the county line at the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez, Lorena and Indiana streets.

These thieves broke off the bronze marker that proclaimed that the ground was "dedicated as an everlasting tribute to the American sons and daughters of Mexican descent who gave their all in World War II." The Latin American Civic and Cultural Committee further stated that the memorial was sacred to the memory of the American soldiers'who gave their lives in World War II 1941-1945 for the survival of the principles of democracy.

Can you imagine the audacity of these vandals who shamelessly took this plaque with intentions of probably selling it for scrap metal? This vile
 deed defies comprehension.
I can remember attending many a Memorial Day service at the site of this monument. My Dad was a flag-waving patriot and he instilled those values in his children. As a co-founder of the local American Legion Post 804 he took an active role in assisting Julia and Zeferino Ramirez and others of 
the Latin American Civic and Cultural Committee in the realization of the Memorial site. Because of his hard work and dedication to community issues and his having authored, "Among the Valiant", an account of 
Mexican American heroes, the park area was named in his honor, "Morin Memorial Square". All of which brings me to another point.

Some well-meaning but misguided individuals have posted a temporary sign that reads, "All Wars Memorial. In point of fact, the All Wars Memorial is located at 570 South Atlantic Boulevard. None of the existing monuments allude to "All Wars". There should be no confusion of these facts because they are all verifiable at the California Veterans Memorial Registry website. The area is slated for redevelopment and, hopefully, with the construction of the new traffic circle we can replace the markers and reestablish the monument site the way it was meant to be.

All residents of East Los Angeles and the Latino community in general should be outraged at the violation of the monument when we stop to consider just some of our heroes.

Guy Gabaldon, a Marine from East Los Angeles, captured more that one thousand Japanese and got them to surrender peacefully. All of these enemy soldiers had been ready to give their lives in order to take out Americans.

David Gonzalez an Army draftee from San Fernando, California saved several of his fellow soldiers under withering fire that ultimately cost him his life.

Alejandro Ruiz from Loving, New Mexico assaulted enemy positions under enemy fire and with grenades being tossed at him. His men drew inspiration from the intrepid way in which he advance and wiped out enemy positions.

Jose Lopez of Brownsville, Texas took out over one hundred enemy combatants in defense 
of his comrades.

Silvestre Herrera of El Paso, Teas exhibited extraordinary courage in knocking out two enemy emplacements and capturing eight enemy soldiers. When President Truman presented him with the Medal of Honor Ruiz did not rise because he was wheelchair bound having lost both feet in combat. This is only a partial listing, in fact, during the World War II years more Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded to Latinos than any other ethnicity.

According to Department of Defense figures, over 450,00 Latinos served during World Ward II. I have researched the history of the monument and can attest that during those war years the weekly fatalities from the Latino community were often in double-digit numbers. It truly was an assault against the community when some low-down thieves tried to impinge the honor of the community and it's an act that should be rectified soon. Our youth need encouragement-and pride in our heroes and our community.


Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar has posted a reward for information leading to the apprehension of the thieves and the return of the bronze pieces.

Eddie Morin is the son of Paul Morin and like his father is a veteran and author. He invites you to visit his websites: 
www.valiantpress.com  and www.raulmorin.com 

201ST FIGHTER SQUADRON MONUMENT PROJECT

MEXICO’S ESCUADRON 201

History of the Mural by Alfred Lugo, Founder

I contacted an artist/muralist friend of mine, Jose Luis Gonzalez, who I knew since 1962. We met and come to find out he was the artist that designed all of the murals and interior and architecture. We met in his GOEZ Art studio where we conceived the design for the mural. It originally was a plaque or painting 24 inches by 12 inches. Mr. Gonzalez was an expert in murals and painting on tiles so upon his suggestion we decided that it would be a montage of the squadron’s history painted on tiles. We had selected an archway at the entrance as a suggestion.

The Los Angeles Chapter of the 11th Airborne Division Association, Mr. Rudy Garcia, President, also joined in support of the mural.

Los Angeles Mexican Consulate Reception Hosted by Mexican Consul General David Figueroa Ortega Ground Breaking Ceremony Friday June 1, 2012

201 Fighter Squadron Monument El Mercado De Los Angeles

The Mural

The 201^st Mexican Fighter Squadron Monument will be erected on the north east corner of El Mercado parking area next to the shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe; it will be 16ft. high by 25ft. wide and six ft. deep. The mural will be installed on the back wall of the monuments interior and on one side wall will be installed a monitor so that people will see the documentary of the 201 Squadron, the interior will be black granite and the exterior will be cantera stone which is prevalent in Mexico and should relate to the Mexican Pilots. The plan is to also have a display inside the monument of some of the things relating to the pilots.

Storytelling is Part of L.A. Mural Tradition: 
"Siqueiros in Los Angeles: Censorship Defied,"
by Ed Fuentes
on September 25, 2012

CALIFORNIA

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

First Latino to graduate from Gervais High returns to reward school 
By Richard Jones, El Hispanic News, Thursday, November 1st, 2012

Although the first stories flowed through Salinas’s pen, he requested all those living in Marion County — Salem, Keizer, Woodburn, Gervais, and other towns — to contribute their memories. “We’d like to know your story,” he said. People will be able to send their stories to Salinas via the website when it is completed.

With the site projected on a large screen, Salinas punched the “click here” button. That leads to a page titled “Windows of Migrant Life.” Several pages lead to options such as a photo gallery, pioneer families, migrant history, education, culture, social causes and events, and interviews.The contact page notes, “Not all information presented here is to be taken as absolute fact due to the nature of the information. Memories change over time and interpretations are subjective.”



From our family …Salinas recalled many staff members at Gervais High during his formative years. Among the most impressive were, he said, were Vice Principal Robert Glasscock and the librarian, “Mr. Manning.”Salinas acknowledged the debt he owed to the community, but he pondered the best way to say, “Thank you.” He hit upon creating a scholarship for Gervais students. The grant will be the first at Gervais to be sponsored by a family — in this case the Salinas and Saldaña families.“Civic participation is born out of a knowledge base,” Salinas said. “Our scholarship will be a grain of sand in an ocean of need.”Perhaps these civic ventures will inspire others to emulate these acts and build a stronger, more educated community.

Este artículo también está disponible en / This post is also available in: Spanish
Short URL: http://www.elhispanicnews.com/?p=4829    Source: El Hispanic, November 2012

First Printing:

Office of the Administrator for the Courts
State of Washington
1206 South Quince Street
Olympia, WA 98501

Sent by Don Milligan donmilligan@comcast.net
http://www.msaj.com/papers/handbook.htm

Washington State Bar Association
Indian Law Section
500 Westin Bldg.
2001 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121-2599

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Wickenburg Hispanic Pioneer Families: Nuestras Memorias

Sent by author Julia Macias Brooks tia@w3az.net 

Salazar creates Sangre de Cristo Conservation Area

RioGrandeDigital.com,  Frontera NorteSur

Citizen uprisings spread in Mexico
November 04, 2012