Customer Reviews

Mexican Americans in Texas History, Selected Essays

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Divided into four sections (the 19th century, the 20th century, biography and literature, and bibliographies), this book covers a wide array of topics concerning the lives of Mexican Americans throughout the history of Texas. This book is a compilation of papers that were originally presented at the 1991 "Mexican Americans in Texas History". As such, I have a few favourites that I found particularly well-written and interesting. One of which is "Agents of Americanization: Rusk Settlement and the Houston Mexican Community, 1907-1950" by Maria Cristina Garcia, which traces the history of settlement houses in Houston. Not only does this piece present how Mexican Americans were victims of racism in Houston society, but it also demonstrates how they resisted and negotiated such views. This article also indicates how settlement workers, arguably possessing good intentions, were attempting to 'americanize' early immigrants. Another excellent piece is entitled "Mexicanos in Texas During the Civil War" by Miguel Gonzalez Quiroga. This article not only discusses the role northeastern Mexico played during the Civil War (the provision of goods to the South), but also why individual Mexicans joined the war. In the third section (Biography and Literature), there are three biographies. Yolanda Romero writes of Trini Gaamez, a community activist from Hereford; Felix Almaraz writes of Carlos E. Castaneda, the first Mexican American to achieve success as a professor in Texas; and, Ramon Saldivar analyzes the work of Americo Paredes and his early novel "George Washington Gomez".

This book will be of immense benefit to anyone interested in the roles Mexican Americans played throughout the history of Texas.