Browsing by Author "San Miguel, Guadalupe, Jr."
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Item A College for the Community?: A Comparison of the Histories of an Urban (San Antonio College) and Rural (Navarro College) Community College in Texas(2016-05) Hoffman, Benjamin Polk; San Miguel, Guadalupe, Jr.; Horne, Gerald; Young, Nancy B.; MacDonald, Victoria-MaríaThis study is a historical comparison of an urban (San Antonio College) and a rural (Navarro College) community college in Texas from their establishment until 1980. Based on oral histories and archival research at each of the institutions, this comparison seeks to humanize the history of the community college through in-depth investigation of historical actors at these schools, while also searching for possible variation in development rooted in differences in local context. San Antonio College, established in 1925, is located in the center of a large city with a diverse urban economy and a sizable Mexican American population. Navarro College, established in 1946, is located in Corsicana, the county seat of Navarro County in east Texas. Navarro County is largely rural, with an economy historically tied to cattle, cotton, and oil. The findings of this study reveal that, for both schools, the impact of the government (at all levels) and the community was larger than the existing historiography of the community college suggests. For the rural campus specifically, receptiveness to the needs of the local community was key in the college’s success and often drove administrative decision-making. Administrators, often portrayed as the key figure in the development of the community college in previous histories, wielded greater power at Navarro College, where the relative position of faculty was depressed in comparison to San Antonio College, and the smaller size of the institution allowed for more rapid change. This study argues that students, depicted as either the beneficiaries of access or the dupes of diversion in the historiography, faced passive obstacles to success due to the selected colleges’ broadening missions and widening curriculum, but ultimately profited from the affordable and convenient opportunities these schools offered for academic and social growth. This dissertation should serve as a model for future historians seeking to strengthen the community college historiography by comparing suggested national trends to the experience of individual institutions.Item Mexican Inclusion and Exclusion in Houston, Texas from 1900-1940(2021-12) Contreras, Ramiro; San Miguel, Guadalupe, Jr.; Zarnow, Leandra R.; Young, Nancy B.; Orozco, Cynthia E.; Goldberg, Mark AllanInitial works on Houston provided homogenized interpretations of early twentieth century Mexicans as a monolithic, shared experience, grouping the entire population under a colonia label in a concentrated geographical area (Second Ward and Magnolia Park). These studies generalized the Mexican experience through a framework of exclusion from Anglo spaces between 1900-1940. Exclusion refers to the purposeful acts by Anglos designed to prohibit or limit individuals from participating in a targeted space through tactics of racism, discrimination, isolation, criminalization, exploitation, and/or marginalization. Later writings in the twenty-first century nuanced the historiography by examining the inclusion of Mexicans in social spaces by Anglos. Inclusion refers to instances when Mexicans participated, integrated, or were accepted into Anglo spaces. My study seeks to provide the first Houston monograph juxtaposing both inclusion and exclusion during these first four decades, demonstrating that experiences of Mexicans were heterogeneous. My study analyzes three spaces in Houston’s Progressive and Depression-eras: economic, learning, and social-cultural. In these spaces, I argue that intersecting dynamics shaped Mexican inclusion and exclusion. These dynamics include occupation, gender, class, language, nationality, citizenship, health, morality, residence, music, talent, race, and marital status. My dissertation demonstrates that the lived experiences of Mexicans were diverse. The varying degree of access and level of participation Mexicans faced makes clear that we cannot apply homogenizing generalizations or view the Mexican experience solely through racial exclusion. In this study, I made use of the latest digital technologies to reconstruct narratives. Using this technology, I searched online repositories such as The Portal to Texas History and GenealogyBank. Genealogical databases like Ancestry.com also provided extensive amounts of data. Cross-referencing keywords in such digital sources recovers previously unconsidered evidence. Because of this, my work has reconstructed messy and intricate accounts not previously studied. Filling this gulf, this dissertation reflects and contributes to the digital turn, particularly the recovery project Latino/a and Mexican American scholars are engaged in to tell local histories.Item SELF-DETERMINED EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ACTIVISM: A COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF NAVAJO, CHICANA/O, AND PUERTO RICAN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF PROTEST(2016-05) Cantu, Carlos L.; San Miguel, Guadalupe, Jr.; Ramos, Raúl A.; Romero, R. Todd; MacDonald, Victoria-MaríaThis study examines the educational self-determination of Navajos, Chicanas/os, and, Puerto Ricans, through a comparative lens of community activism and the founding of their own institutions of higher education. These colleges emerged within their own historical contexts in the late 1960s and evolved throughout the 1970s. In comparing these historical case studies, I argue educational self-determination was more widespread than has been recognized by scholars. In addition, the push for educational self-determination was intergenerational, involved a wide spectrum of activist strategies, and changed over time. The founders of these colleges sought to disrupt the culture of exclusion in the U.S. schools by incorporating the language and culture of the communities they served while at the same time empowering them with new opportunities in higher education. This dissertation will contribute to the historiography of educational self-determination among communities of color.