500 Years of Chicana Women’s History
Book – Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 2007. 320 pages, 899 illustrations.
Stories and photos of Chicana/Mexican-American women in politics, labor, art, health, and more.
Buy book online.
The history of Mexican Americans spans more than five centuries and varies from region to region across the United States. Yet most of our history books devote at most a chapter to Chicano history, with even less attention to the story of Chicanas.
500 Years of Chicana Women’s History offers a powerful antidote to this omission with a vivid, pictorial account of struggle and survival, resilience and achievement, discrimination and identity. The bilingual text, along with hundreds of photos and other images, ranges from female-centered stories of pre-Columbian Mexico to profiles of contemporary social justice activists, labor leaders, youth organizers, artists, and environmentalists, among others. With a distinguished, seventeen-member advisory board, the book presents a remarkable combination of scholarship and youthful appeal.
In the section on jobs held by Mexicanas under U.S. rule in the 1800s, for example, readers learn about flamboyant Doña Tules, who owned a popular gambling saloon in Santa Fe, and Eulalia Arrilla de Pérez, a respected curandera (healer) in the San Diego area. Also covered are the “repatriation” campaigns” of the Midwest during the Depression that deported both adults and children, 75 percent of whom were U.S.–born and knew nothing of Mexico. Other stories include those of the garment, laundry, and cannery worker strikes, told from the perspective of Chicanas on the ground. From the women who fought and died in the Mexican Revolution to those marching with their young children today for immigrant rights, every story draws inspiration. Like the editor’s previous book, 500 Years of Chicano History (still in print after 30 years), this thoroughly enriching view of Chicana women’s history promises to become a classic. [Publisher's description.]
About the Editor: Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez is a widely known Chicana writer, activist, and lecturer. Now director of the Institute for Multiracial Justice in San Franciso, she has published six books, most recently De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century.
Published by: Rutgers University.
ISBN: 9780813542249
Post a comment
Explore by Time Period
- Colonization
- Revolution & Constitution
- Early 19th Century
- Civil War Era
- Reconstruction Period
- Industrial Revolution
- Turn of the Century
- World War I
- Prosperity, Depression, & World War II
- Cold War
- People’s Movement
- 1975 – 2000
- 2001 – Present
- 18th Century
- 19th Century
- 20th Century
- All US History
- 21st Century
Explore by Theme
- African American
- Art & Music
- Asian American
- Civil Rights Movements
- Criminal Justice
- Democracy & Citizenship
- Disability
- Economics
- Education
- Environment & Food
- Immigration
- Imperialism
- Individuals in US History
- Labor
- Language Arts
- Latino
- Laws & Citizen Rights
- LGBT
- Media
- Native American
- Organizing
- Pacific Islander
- Racism & Racial Identity
- Science
- Slavery
- Social Class
- Sports
- US Foreign Policy
- Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
- Women's History
- World History/Global Studies
List of Resources
- Articles
- Audio
- Books: Fiction
- Books: Non-Fiction
- Films
- Picture Books
- Posters
- Profiles
- Songs and Poems
- Spanish/Bilingual
- Teaching Activity PDFs
- Teaching Guides
- Websites
Reading Level
Facebook Status
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 13:46 Happy birthday Alice Walker. Author and activist.
History in Pictures - February
Alice Walker, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author, and activist, was born in Eatonton, Georgia, on Feb. 9, 1944.
See Walker's website for photos, essays, poems, books, and conversations: http://alicewalkersgarden.com/
"Saying goodbye to my friend @[151141887957:274:Howard Zinn]" in @[5637143257:274:The Boston Globe]: http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/01/31/alice_walker_says_goodbye_to_her_friend_howard_zinn/
Interviews on @[17414523278:274:Democracy Now!]: http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/alice_walker
Image from Architects of Peace. See more: http://www.architectsofpeace.org/architects-of-peace/alice-walker
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), and many more.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 13:07 The National Museum of the American Indian is in the early planning stages for an exhibit on the Native people of New York State and the surrounding regions. They seek insights into how teachers are covering historic and contemporary issues around Native Americans in their classrooms so that they can best integrate the needs of students and teachers into the exhibition. If you are currently teaching, or have recently taught content related to Native Americans from the Northeast, they would appreciate hearing your input on the survey at the link below. As a thank you, you will automatically be entered in a raffle to win one of three books.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 7:31 On this day in 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Dep't. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism:http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
Are there other books, films, lessons you recommend to teach about McCarthyism?
History in Pictures - February
On Feb 9, 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism: http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), and many more.
You must login to comment.