Rebirth: Mexican Los Angeles from the Great Migration to the Great Depression [Paperback]

Douglas Monroy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520213335 | ISBN-13: 978-0520213333 | Publication Date: June 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

This sweeping, vibrant narrative chronicles the history of the Mexican community in Los Angeles. Douglas Monroy unravels the dramatic, complex story of Mexican immigration to Los Angeles during the early decades of the twentieth century and shows how Mexican immigrants re-created their lives and their communities. Against the backdrop of this newly created cityscape, Rebirth explores pivotal aspects of Mexican Los Angeles during this time--its history, political economy, popular culture--and depicts the creation of a time and place unique in Californian and American history.
Mexican boxers, movie stars, politicians, workers, parents, and children, American popular culture and schools, and historical fervor on both sides of the border all come alive in this literary, jargon-free chronicle. In addition to the colorful unfolding of the social and cultural life of Mexican Los Angeles, Monroy tells a story of first-generation immigrants that provides important points of comparison for understanding other immigrant groups in the United States.
Monroy shows how the transmigration of space, culture, and reality from Mexico to Los Angeles became neither wholly American nor Mexican, but México de afuera, "Mexico outside," a place where new concerns and new lives emerged from what was both old and familiar. This extremely accessible work uncovers the human stories of a dynamic immigrant population and shows the emergence of a truly transnational history and culture. Rebirth provides an integral piece of Chicano history, as well as an important element of California urban history, with the rich, synthetic portrait it gives of Mexican Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"A detailed, rich, and engaging text on Mexicans in Los Angeles, from the turn of the century, when their presence was virtually unacknowledged, to the 1930s, when Mexican communities created a significant presence in the city. Monroy's book offers a sweeping narrative that carries you into Los Angeles and beyond, through a discussion of immigration pathways, work lives, and the popular culture of the immigrants and the first generation youth."--Lisbeth Haas, author of Conquests and Historical Identities in California, 1769-1936

From the Back Cover

"A detailed, rich, and engaging text on Mexicans in Los Angeles, from the turn of the century, when their presence was virtually unacknowledged, to the 1930s, when Mexican communities created a significant presence in the city. Monroy's book offers a sweeping narrative that carries you into Los Angeles and beyond, through a discussion of immigration pathways, work lives, and the popular culture of the immigrants and the first generation youth." (Lisbeth Haas, author of Conquests and Historical Identities in California, 1769- 1936) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520213335
• ISBN-13: 978-0520213333
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #973,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Monroy is Professor of History at The Colorado College. A native of Los Angeles and a graduate of Hollywood High School and UCLA, he presently lives in Colorado Springs, though he spends the equivalent of at least two months per year in Southern California. He has two grown children and a six year-old. A mainstay of the faculty softball team at Colorado College for nearly three decades, Doug also plays tennis and golf.

He is the author of Thrown among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California, winner of the James Rawley Prize of the Organization of American Historians, and Rebirth: Mexican Los Angeles from the Great Migration to the Great Depression, both from the University of California Press. Professor Monroy serves on the OAH Distinguished Speakers Series. For the 2004-2005 year he was the Ray Allen Billington Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Huntington Library and Occidental College. At Colorado College he teaches courses on 20th Century US history, the history of the Southwest and its arts and literature, and historiography. He has led numerous workshops and seminars for K-12 teachers on a variety of issues related to his scholarly work.

As a child he was mostly interested in sports; as a college student in the Civil Rights and Antiwar movements, and in the world of politics and ideas; and Doug Monroy's values, beliefs, and activities have remained consistent with this earlier socialization. Added to this mix has been a strong dose of neo-Freudian thinking and wrestling with the issue of how to mix pleasures with family, environmental, and social responsibility.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars México Afuera - The Life Outside of Mexico, January 14, 2008

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Sam I Am (los angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rebirth: Mexican Los Angeles from the Great Migration to the Great Depression (Paperback)

This well-researched book documents the significant history of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, from the turn of the century until the Great Depression. Immigrants from Mexico called their new life in Los Angeles México afuera, or Mexico outside, describing the process through which their new American lives emerged from the old ways and customs. The book is interesting enough to appeal to a wide audience, beyond the scholarly and university audience for which it was written.