From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America

304 Pages·2008·12.4 MB·English

by  Vicki L. Ruiz

From Out of the
Shadows
MEXICAN WOMEN IN
TWENTIETH-CENTURY
AMERICA
Tenth Anniversary Edition
Vicki L. Ruiz
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 1998, 2008 by Vicki L. Ruiz
First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1999
Tenth anniversary edition published by Oxford University Press, 2008
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
www. oup. com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ruiz, Vicki.
From out of the shadows: Mexican women
in twentieth-century America / Vicki L. Ruiz.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-537478-0 (cloth) 978-0-19-537477-3 (pbk.)
1. Mexican American women—History—20th century.
2. Mexican American women—Social conditions.
I. Title E184.M5R86 1997
305.48'86872073—dc21 97-9387
Permission credits:
Sections of Chapter 2 were published as
"Dead Ends or Gold Mines: Using Missionary Records
in Mexican American Women's History, "
Frontiers 12:1 (1991): 35-56.
An earlier draft of Chapter 3 was published as
"The Flapper and the Chaperone: Historical Memory
Among Mexican American Women"
in Seeking Common Ground: A Multidisciplinary Reader
on Immigrant Women in the United States, ed. Donna Gabaccia (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1992), pp. 141-157.
"University Avenue" by Pat Mora
is reprinted with permission from the publisher
of Borders (Houston: Arte Piiblico Press, 1986).
3 5 7 9 8 6 42
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
FOR THE STORYTELLERS WHO GAVE ME HISTORY LESSONS AT HOME
In memory of my grandmother
Maria de las Nieves Moya de Ruiz
(1880-1971)
and to my mother
Erminia Pablita Ruiz Mercer
(1921-2001)
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction yd
1. Border Journeys 3
2. Confronting "America" 33
3. The Flapper and the Chaperone 51
4. With Pickets, Baskets, and Ballots 72
5. La Nueva Chicana: Women and the Movement 99
6. Claiming Public Space 127
Epilogue 147
Afterword 152
Appendix 166
Notes 171
Bibliography 227
Index 249
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Ac knowledgments
1 HIS book would not be possible without the voices of the indi-
viduals who have shaped this narrative, as historical actors, as
scholars, and as friends. First, I would like to thank the following
people who shared with me their memories: Eusebia Buriel, Ray
Buriel, Elsa Chavez, Carmen Bernal Escobar, Alma Araiza Garcia,
Fernando Garcia, Martha Gonzalez, Dorothy Ray Healey, Lucy
Lucero, Ernest Moreno, Graciela Martinez Moreno, the late Luisa
Moreno, Julia Luna Mount, Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven, Maria
del Carmen Romero, my mother Erminia Pablita Ruiz Mercer, and
Jesusita Torres. I thank my former students Carolyn Arredondo, Je-
susita Ponce, Lydia Linares Peake, and David Ybarra for giving me
permission to cite their oral interviews. With generosity and en-
couragement, Sherna Berger Gluck has allowed me to quote from
several volumes of the Rosie the Riveter Revisited oral history col-
lection housed at California State University, Long Beach.
During my ten years of wandering in and out of archives, staff
members have been extraordinarily helpful and I express a deep ap-
preciation to Christine Marin, Special Collections, Arizona State
University; Rose Diaz and Tom Jaehn, Special Collections, Zim-
merman Library, University of New Mexico; Katherine Kane and
Anne Bonds, Colorado Historical Society; Kate Adams, Barker His-
tory Center and Margo Gutierrez, Benson Library, University of
Texas, Austin; and Maria E. Flores, Our Lady of the Lake College,
-^Jviii^ Acknowledgments
San Antonio. I also thank the helpful staff at the Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley; Special Collections, University
of California, Los Angeles; Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research (especially Sarah Cooper); Coleccion Tloque
Nahuaque, Chicano Studies Library, University of California,
Santa Barbara; Western History Department, Denver Public Li-
brary; Houchen Community Center, El Paso; Daughters of the Re-
public of Texas Library at the Alamo; Labor Archives, University of
Texas, Arlington; DeGroyler Library, Southern Methodist Univer-
sity; University Archives, New Mexico State University; and the
Arizona Historical Society Library, Tucson.
A debt of gratitude goes out to Victor Becerra, Ernie Chavez,
Tom Jaehn, Valerie Matsumoto, Lara Medina, Beatriz Pesquera,
Denise Segura, Howard Shorr, and Devra Weber for taking time
out of their own busy schedules to share with me photographs,
newspaper clippings, and primary materials. Thank you more than
words can convey. I also acknowledge friends and colleagues who
sent me their published and unpublished papers, works that have
unquestionably enriched this manuscript: GabrielaArredondo, Ray
Buriel, Gilbert Cadena, Roberto Calderon, Angel Cervantes, Ernie
Chavez, Marisela Chavez, Kenton Clyrner, Virginia Espino, Jeff
Garcflazo, Ramon Gutierrez, Tom Jaehn, Anne Larson, Margo
McBane, Jesus Malaret, Valerie Matsumoto, Lara Medina, Cynthia
Orozco, Naomi Quinonez, Ada Sosa Riddell, Margaret Rose,
George Sanchez, Marjorie Sanchez-Walker, Denise Segura, Maria
Soldatenko, Richard Street, Quintard Taylor, and Zaragosa Vargas.
I have been blessed with the privilege of working with a num-
ber of highly motivated and talented graduate students, people who
will definitely make a difference in our profession. The UC Davis
cohort includes James Brooks, Kevin Leonard, Jennifer Levine,
Matthew Lasar, Jesus Franscisco Malaret and of course, the "Sis-
terhood"—Kathleen Cairns, Annette Reed Crum, Margaret Jacobs,
Olivia Martinez-Krippner, Alicia Rodriquez-Estrada, and Yolanda
Calderon Wallace. The Claremont crew wants to set the world on
fire: Frank Barajas, Virginia Espino, Matthew Garcia, Timothy
Hodgdon, Alice Horn, Peg Lamphier, Matthew Lasar, Lara Medina,
Marian Perales, Naomi Quinonez, Alicia Rodriquez-Estrada, Ar-
lene Sanchez-Walsh, Emilie Stoltzfus, Mary Ann Villarreal, and
Antonia Villasenor are comitted to the bridging of the academy and
the community. I have also enjoyed my many conversations with
Pat Ash, Philip Castruita, Antonia Garcia, Lee Ann Meyer, Kat
Norman, and Amanda Perez. A special thanks is reserved for
Acknowledgments •$ ix $*•
Marisela Chavez, Virginia Espino, Timothy Hodgdon, Peg Lam-
phier, Laura Munoz and Mary Ann Villarreal, my current graduate
students who migrated with me to the "dry heat" of Arizona and to
the daughters of the desert, Luisa Bonillas, Rose Diaz, Christine
Marin, and Jean Reynolds, who have made us all feel so welcome.
Institutional support for this manuscript has come from many
sources. An American Council for Learned Societies Fellowship
proved crucial in the early phases of this project. A UC Davis Hu-
manities Fellowship and a faculty development award allowed me
to take a one-year sabbatical from the classroom. In addition, re-
search funds associated with the Mellon Humanities chair that I
held for three years at The Claremont Graduate School along with
a summer research grant and a Haynes Fellowship provided funds
to complete the archival research and transcribe interviews. I wrote
the last chapters at Arizona State University where I recieved a one
semester sabbatical.
At UC Davis, my undergraduate assistants (both are now attor-
neys) Amagda Perez and Viola Romero were conscientious to a
fault. Thanks also to Ada Arensdorf, Jaime Ruiz and Eve Carr. The
meticulous efforts of Timothy Hodgdon and Matthew Lasar proved
invaluable in preparing the manuscript for publication. Mis com-
paneras/os Angie Chabram-Dernesesian, Ed Escobar, Estelle
Freedman, Gayle Gullett, Gail Martinez, Valerie Matsumoto, Beat-
riz Pesquera, Mary Rothschild, Raquel Salgado Scherr, Howard
Shorr, Susan Tiano, and Clarence Walker helped me regain my fo-
cus during a very difficult time in my life.
At various stages, several individuals offered inspiration and
constructive criticism. I would like to thank Ram6n Gutierrez,
George Lipsitz, Betita Martinez, Valerie Matsumoto, and Howard
Shorr for their careful readings of one or more chapters. The ASU
Women's History Reading Group, particularly Michelle Curran,
Susan Gray, Gayle Gullett, Mary Melcher, and Sybil Thornton,
provided support and insight. Peggy Pascoe and Sarah Deutsch
read the entire manuscript and their comments (and Peggy's line
editing) substantially strengthened the narrative as a whole. Peggy
y Sally—gracias por todo.
I have felt privileged to work with Sheldon Meyer, a steadfast
advocate and extraordinary editor. I also acknowledge the careful
attention paid to this manuscript by Brandon Trissler and Helen
Mules. Their professionalism and enthusiasm eased this overpro-
tective author. Rosemary Wellner, too, deserves thanks for her skills
as a copy editor.