Customer Reviews

Latinos in Pasadena (CA) (Images of America) (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing))

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Roberta Martinez' book is part of the nationwide photographic, historical book series called "Images of America." Roberta's ties to Pasadena, California, are substantial. She is much more besides a writer. She is well-known as a community activist, historian, lecturer, city commissioner, television producer, arts trustee, and advisor for the Pasadena Historical Museum and local school district. In her book, Roberta culled archival photos, newspaper articles, academic research papers, a local history project completed for Pasadena in 1995, and countless oral anecdotes and privately-owned vintage photo collections. She wove all her findings into a beautiful little book that traces "the legacies of Mexican-Americans and other Latino men and women who often worked for Pasadena's rich and famous...for generations."

Each photo in this book is accompanied with historical explanations that help readers understand the impact of Latinos in Pasadena's evolution. Early Pasadena Latino settlers were mostly migrants and immigrants, but Pasadena is now about one-fourth Latino, and Roberta's book explores "the complexity of community and individual identity" that has led to the Latino presence being felt and respected in high levels across our city today, from the superintendent of schools, to school board members, city council members, prominent professionals, and others in leadership roles.

Roberta has left open the possibility of writing and publishing additional volumes in the near future, since "there still is so much more to be shared." I enthusiastically await her next book.