Carolina Munguía and Emma Tenayuca: The Politics of Benevolence and Radical Reform

Frontiers

Volumn 24, Issue 2-3, 2003, Pages

  González, Gabriela ^a  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84862048001     PISSN: 01609009     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (89)

1. Allan Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," Houston Chronicle, December 14, 1986, 46; and Minutes, Círculo Cultural "Isabel la Católica," San Antonio, August 27, 1939 (hereafter cited as CCIC Minutes), Romulo Munguía Collection, Nettie Lee Benson Library Manuscripts Collection, University of Texas, Austin (hereafter cited as Munguía MS).
2. Carolina Malpica de Munguía to the members of the Círculo Cultural "Isabel la Catoĺica," San Antonio, January 8,1939, Munguía MS; and Jeannie Kever, "Women: Tenayuca Spent Years as a Strike Leader," San Antonio Light, March 6, 1988, J6.
3. Carolina Malpica de Munguía to the members of the Círculo Cultural "Isabel la Catoĺica," San Antonio, January 8,1939, Munguía MS; and Jeannie Kever, "Women: Tenayuca Spent Years as a Strike Leader," San Antonio Light, March 6, 1988, J6.
4. Like her middle-class Euroamerican and African American counterparts, Carolina Munguía subscribed to maternalism, an exalted concept of motherhood that created a public space for civic participation by women by assigning them the influential role of social motherhood, that is, the right and obligation to influence government and society on matters relating to the social welfare of their families, particularly children. Estelle B. Freedman provides an excellent study of reform strategies of redemption and maternalist politics in Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), 352-54. Despite the similarities, Munguía's maternalist inclinations derived their origins in Mexico, not the United States. She was raised and educated during the Porfirio Díaz regime, which intended to mold Mexico into a unified, modern nation-state. Secretary of Education Justo Sierra, the architect of Mexico's public school system, targeted women in particular, because he saw them as the primary transmitters of cultural values and as such it was imperative that they be educated to serve their nation. Julia Tuñon Pablos, Mujeres en Mexico: Una Historia Olvidada (Mexico: Planeta, 1987), 86. Although baptized in the Catholic Church, Munguía was educated by Methodist missionaries stationed in Puebla, Mexico. Munguía's strong sense of community and moral obligation stemmed from her protestant upbringing. Throughout her life, she made time for community-related projects. See Cynthia E. Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía," in The Handbook of Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003), online at www.tsha.utexas.edu. Telephone conversation with Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, April 30, 2003; "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999: Labor Organizer's Firebrand Activism Recalled," San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 1999. Although publicly and, in many ways, privately, Emma Tenayuca's life reflected feminist sensibilities, and even though she can rightly be claimed as an important predecessor to the Chicana feminist movement both as a source of inspiration and as an early Mexican American woman leader, I do not use the term "feminist" in reference to her for two reasons. First, it was not a term that she used to describe herself, either in the 1930s or any time thereafter, nor did she consciously develop a feminist theory or praxis. Her focus was Mexican-origin workers, both men and women. Second, there is some evidence that sheds light on a potentially more complex personal reality. In a Time magazine article about Emma Tenayuca's labor organizing in Texas, the author writes, "Since her husband, Homer Brooks, former Communist nominee for Governor of Texas, lives in Houston, their marital life is confined to irregular weekends, but Emma Tenayuca declares pertly, 'I love my husband and am a good cook'" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17). A biography of Emma Tenayuca that will no doubt shed light on these complexities has been undertaken by her niece, San Antonio attorney Sharyll Soto Teneyuca and writer Carmen Tafolla.
5. Like her middle-class Euroamerican and African American counterparts, Carolina Munguía subscribed to maternalism, an exalted concept of motherhood that created a public space for civic participation by women by assigning them the influential role of social motherhood, that is, the right and obligation to influence government and society on matters relating to the social welfare of their families, particularly children. Estelle B. Freedman provides an excellent study of reform strategies of redemption and maternalist politics in Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), 352-54. Despite the similarities, Munguía's maternalist inclinations derived their origins in Mexico, not the United States. She was raised and educated during the Porfirio Díaz regime, which intended to mold Mexico into a unified, modern nation-state. Secretary of Education Justo Sierra, the architect of Mexico's public school system, targeted women in particular, because he saw them as the primary transmitters of cultural values and as such it was imperative that they be educated to serve their nation. Julia Tuñon Pablos, Mujeres en Mexico: Una Historia Olvidada (Mexico: Planeta, 1987), 86. Although baptized in the Catholic Church, Munguía was educated by Methodist missionaries stationed in Puebla, Mexico. Munguía's strong sense of community and moral obligation stemmed from her protestant upbringing. Throughout her life, she made time for community-related projects. See Cynthia E. Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía," in The Handbook of Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003), online at www.tsha.utexas.edu. Telephone conversation with Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, April 30, 2003; "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999: Labor Organizer's Firebrand Activism Recalled," San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 1999. Although publicly and, in many ways, privately, Emma Tenayuca's life reflected feminist sensibilities, and even though she can rightly be claimed as an important predecessor to the Chicana feminist movement both as a source of inspiration and as an early Mexican American woman leader, I do not use the term "feminist" in reference to her for two reasons. First, it was not a term that she used to describe herself, either in the 1930s or any time thereafter, nor did she consciously develop a feminist theory or praxis. Her focus was Mexican-origin workers, both men and women. Second, there is some evidence that sheds light on a potentially more complex personal reality. In a Time magazine article about Emma Tenayuca's labor organizing in Texas, the author writes, "Since her husband, Homer Brooks, former Communist nominee for Governor of Texas, lives in Houston, their marital life is confined to irregular weekends, but Emma Tenayuca declares pertly, 'I love my husband and am a good cook'" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17). A biography of Emma Tenayuca that will no doubt shed light on these complexities has been undertaken by her niece, San Antonio attorney Sharyll Soto Teneyuca and writer Carmen Tafolla.
6. Like her middle-class Euroamerican and African American counterparts, Carolina Munguía subscribed to maternalism, an exalted concept of motherhood that created a public space for civic participation by women by assigning them the influential role of social motherhood, that is, the right and obligation to influence government and society on matters relating to the social welfare of their families, particularly children. Estelle B. Freedman provides an excellent study of reform strategies of redemption and maternalist politics in Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), 352-54. Despite the similarities, Munguía's maternalist inclinations derived their origins in Mexico, not the United States. She was raised and educated during the Porfirio Díaz regime, which intended to mold Mexico into a unified, modern nation-state. Secretary of Education Justo Sierra, the architect of Mexico's public school system, targeted women in particular, because he saw them as the primary transmitters of cultural values and as such it was imperative that they be educated to serve their nation. Julia Tuñon Pablos, Mujeres en Mexico: Una Historia Olvidada (Mexico: Planeta, 1987), 86. Although baptized in the Catholic Church, Munguía was educated by Methodist missionaries stationed in Puebla, Mexico. Munguía's strong sense of community and moral obligation stemmed from her protestant upbringing. Throughout her life, she made time for community-related projects. See Cynthia E. Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía," in The Handbook of Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003), online at www.tsha.utexas.edu. Telephone conversation with Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, April 30, 2003; "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999: Labor Organizer's Firebrand Activism Recalled," San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 1999. Although publicly and, in many ways, privately, Emma Tenayuca's life reflected feminist sensibilities, and even though she can rightly be claimed as an important predecessor to the Chicana feminist movement both as a source of inspiration and as an early Mexican American woman leader, I do not use the term "feminist" in reference to her for two reasons. First, it was not a term that she used to describe herself, either in the 1930s or any time thereafter, nor did she consciously develop a feminist theory or praxis. Her focus was Mexican-origin workers, both men and women. Second, there is some evidence that sheds light on a potentially more complex personal reality. In a Time magazine article about Emma Tenayuca's labor organizing in Texas, the author writes, "Since her husband, Homer Brooks, former Communist nominee for Governor of Texas, lives in Houston, their marital life is confined to irregular weekends, but Emma Tenayuca declares pertly, 'I love my husband and am a good cook'" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17). A biography of Emma Tenayuca that will no doubt shed light on these complexities has been undertaken by her niece, San Antonio attorney Sharyll Soto Teneyuca and writer Carmen Tafolla.
7. Like her middle-class Euroamerican and African American counterparts, Carolina Munguía subscribed to maternalism, an exalted concept of motherhood that created a public space for civic participation by women by assigning them the influential role of social motherhood, that is, the right and obligation to influence government and society on matters relating to the social welfare of their families, particularly children. Estelle B. Freedman provides an excellent study of reform strategies of redemption and maternalist politics in Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), 352-54. Despite the similarities, Munguía's maternalist inclinations derived their origins in Mexico, not the United States. She was raised and educated during the Porfirio Díaz regime, which intended to mold Mexico into a unified, modern nation-state. Secretary of Education Justo Sierra, the architect of Mexico's public school system, targeted women in particular, because he saw them as the primary transmitters of cultural values and as such it was imperative that they be educated to serve their nation. Julia Tuñon Pablos, Mujeres en Mexico: Una Historia Olvidada (Mexico: Planeta, 1987), 86. Although baptized in the Catholic Church, Munguía was educated by Methodist missionaries stationed in Puebla, Mexico. Munguía's strong sense of community and moral obligation stemmed from her protestant upbringing. Throughout her life, she made time for community-related projects. See Cynthia E. Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía," in The Handbook of Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003), online at www.tsha.utexas.edu. Telephone conversation with Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, April 30, 2003; "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999: Labor Organizer's Firebrand Activism Recalled," San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 1999. Although publicly and, in many ways, privately, Emma Tenayuca's life reflected feminist sensibilities, and even though she can rightly be claimed as an important predecessor to the Chicana feminist movement both as a source of inspiration and as an early Mexican American woman leader, I do not use the term "feminist" in reference to her for two reasons. First, it was not a term that she used to describe herself, either in the 1930s or any time thereafter, nor did she consciously develop a feminist theory or praxis. Her focus was Mexican-origin workers, both men and women. Second, there is some evidence that sheds light on a potentially more complex personal reality. In a Time magazine article about Emma Tenayuca's labor organizing in Texas, the author writes, "Since her husband, Homer Brooks, former Communist nominee for Governor of Texas, lives in Houston, their marital life is confined to irregular weekends, but Emma Tenayuca declares pertly, 'I love my husband and am a good cook'" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17). A biography of Emma Tenayuca that will no doubt shed light on these complexities has been undertaken by her niece, San Antonio attorney Sharyll Soto Teneyuca and writer Carmen Tafolla.
8. Like her middle-class Euroamerican and African American counterparts, Carolina Munguía subscribed to maternalism, an exalted concept of motherhood that created a public space for civic participation by women by assigning them the influential role of social motherhood, that is, the right and obligation to influence government and society on matters relating to the social welfare of their families, particularly children. Estelle B. Freedman provides an excellent study of reform strategies of redemption and maternalist politics in Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), 352-54. Despite the similarities, Munguía's maternalist inclinations derived their origins in Mexico, not the United States. She was raised and educated during the Porfirio Díaz regime, which intended to mold Mexico into a unified, modern nation-state. Secretary of Education Justo Sierra, the architect of Mexico's public school system, targeted women in particular, because he saw them as the primary transmitters of cultural values and as such it was imperative that they be educated to serve their nation. Julia Tuñon Pablos, Mujeres en Mexico: Una Historia Olvidada (Mexico: Planeta, 1987), 86. Although baptized in the Catholic Church, Munguía was educated by Methodist missionaries stationed in Puebla, Mexico. Munguía's strong sense of community and moral obligation stemmed from her protestant upbringing. Throughout her life, she made time for community-related projects. See Cynthia E. Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía," in The Handbook of Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003), online at www.tsha.utexas.edu. Telephone conversation with Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, April 30, 2003; "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999: Labor Organizer's Firebrand Activism Recalled," San Antonio Express-News, July 24, 1999. Although publicly and, in many ways, privately, Emma Tenayuca's life reflected feminist sensibilities, and even though she can rightly be claimed as an important predecessor to the Chicana feminist movement both as a source of inspiration and as an early Mexican American woman leader, I do not use the term "feminist" in reference to her for two reasons. First, it was not a term that she used to describe herself, either in the 1930s or any time thereafter, nor did she consciously develop a feminist theory or praxis. Her focus was Mexican-origin workers, both men and women. Second, there is some evidence that sheds light on a potentially more complex personal reality. In a Time magazine article about Emma Tenayuca's labor organizing in Texas, the author writes, "Since her husband, Homer Brooks, former Communist nominee for Governor of Texas, lives in Houston, their marital life is confined to irregular weekends, but Emma Tenayuca declares pertly, 'I love my husband and am a good cook'" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17). A biography of Emma Tenayuca that will no doubt shed light on these complexities has been undertaken by her niece, San Antonio attorney Sharyll Soto Teneyuca and writer Carmen Tafolla.
9. For critiques of male-identified and Euro-centered histories, see Antonia Castañeda, "Women of Color and the Rewriting of Western History: The Discourse, Politics, and Deconlonization of History," Pacific Historical Review 61 (1992): 501-33; and Cynthia E. Orozco, "Beyond Machismo, la Familia, and Ladies Auxiliaries: A History of Mexican Origin Women in Voluntary Association and Politics, 1870-1990," Renato Rosaldo Lecture Series 10 (1992/1993): 37-77, and "Sexing the Colonial Imaginary: (En)gendering Chicano History, Theory, and Consciousness," in The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History, ed. Emma Pérez (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 3-27.
10. For critiques of male-identified and Euro-centered histories, see Antonia Castañeda, "Women of Color and the Rewriting of Western History: The Discourse, Politics, and Deconlonization of History," Pacific Historical Review 61 (1992): 501-33; and Cynthia E. Orozco, "Beyond Machismo, la Familia, and Ladies Auxiliaries: A History of Mexican Origin Women in Voluntary Association and Politics, 1870-1990," Renato Rosaldo Lecture Series 10 (1992/1993): 37-77, and "Sexing the Colonial Imaginary: (En)gendering Chicano History, Theory, and Consciousness," in The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History, ed. Emma Pérez (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 3-27.
11. For critiques of male-identified and Euro-centered histories, see Antonia Castañeda, "Women of Color and the Rewriting of Western History: The Discourse, Politics, and Deconlonization of History," Pacific Historical Review 61 (1992): 501-33; and Cynthia E. Orozco, "Beyond Machismo, la Familia, and Ladies Auxiliaries: A History of Mexican Origin Women in Voluntary Association and Politics, 1870-1990," Renato Rosaldo Lecture Series 10 (1992/1993): 37-77, and "Sexing the Colonial Imaginary: (En)gendering Chicano History, Theory, and Consciousness," in The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History, ed. Emma Pérez (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 3-27.
12. Orozco, "Sexing the Colonial Imaginary," 3-27.
13. Elvira Cisneros, interview with author, April 28, 1994.
14. Carolina Malpica did graduate work in English (Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía").
15. CCIC Minutes, San Antonio, June 12, 1938, Munguía MS. For purposes of simplicity, I hereafter refer to this organization as Círculo Cultural. "Reglamentos del Círculo Cultural 'Isabel la Católica,'" June 12, 1938, Munguía MS. Before her work with the Círculo Cultural, Carolina Munguía labored to uplift the community from what she perceived to be social and cultural decay through the media. According to her daughter, Munguía abhorred the custom of mixing the English and Spanish languages in conversation. She attributed the debasement of the Spanish language to the fact that Mexicans born and raised in the United States were less able to access Mexican culture. In an attempt to take care of what she believed to be a deficiency, she established a radio program called "La Estrella" on KONO in 1932. The Spanish program was designed to educate listeners on subjects such as literature, music, geography, and Mexican culture (Elvira Cisneros, interview with author, San Antonio, November 19, 1995; and Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía").
16. CCIC Minutes, San Antonio, June 12, 1938, Munguía MS. For purposes of simplicity, I hereafter refer to this organization as Círculo Cultural. "Reglamentos del Círculo Cultural 'Isabel la Católica,'" June 12, 1938, Munguía MS. Before her work with the Círculo Cultural, Carolina Munguía labored to uplift the community from what she perceived to be social and cultural decay through the media. According to her daughter, Munguía abhorred the custom of mixing the English and Spanish languages in conversation. She attributed the debasement of the Spanish language to the fact that Mexicans born and raised in the United States were less able to access Mexican culture. In an attempt to take care of what she believed to be a deficiency, she established a radio program called "La Estrella" on KONO in 1932. The Spanish program was designed to educate listeners on subjects such as literature, music, geography, and Mexican culture (Elvira Cisneros, interview with author, San Antonio, November 19, 1995; and Orozco, "Carolina Malpica Munguía").
17. Cisneros, interview, November 19, 1995. CCIC Minutes, January 22, 1939, July 31, 1938, August 21, 1938, September 4, 1938, February 5, 1939, and November 22, 1938, Munguía MS.
18. The implication is that working-class Mexicans in Texas were in a state of economic and cultural abandonment created by multiple forces, among them the ravages of revolution in Mexico, a legacy of severe poverty in their native land, severe poverty in their new American home, and racial discrimination. Carolina Munguía asked Mexican officials to do their part to improve the cultural landscape of their compatriots by participating in the club's art exhibition. In Mexico, middle-class people also sought to impose their value system upon the working class (William E. French, A Peaceful and Working People: Manners, Morals, and Class Formation in Northern Mexico [Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996]).
19. Carolina Munguía to the Governor of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, May 1, 1939, Munguía MS. Other Mexican states that were sent letters were Querétaro, Sinaloa, Oaxaca, Baja California, Michoacán, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Colima, Puebla, Guanajuato, and Hidalgo.
20. CCIC Minutes, July 7, 1938, July 31, 1938, July 21, 1938, September 4, 1938, September 18, 1938, February 5, 1939, and February 19, 1939, Munguía MS.
21. Carolina Munguía to the members of the Círculo Cultural, San Antonio, January 8, 1939, Munguía MS. Ruben Munguía, interview with the author, May 6, 1994.
22. Cisneros, interview, April 28, 1994.
23. "Reglamentos del Círculo Cultural 'Isabel la Católica,'" June 12, 1938.
24. "Reglamentos del Círculo Cultural 'Isabel la Católica,'" June 12, 1938, and October 2, 1938. Carolina Munguía to the members of the Círculo Cultural, San Antonio, January 8, 1939. Class divisions seemed anathema to Munguía. She sought to bridge such divisions through cultural nationalism. Aware of the vast material differences between the gente humilde (the poor) and the gente comoda (comfortable classes) like herself, Munguía, nevertheless, reasoned that the only division that counted was the one between the gente decente (the decent people - the high society of reason, manners, and culture) and the gente corriente (the common or crude people - the mass society of emotions, ill manners, and no culture). In a society where motherhood was still considered a woman's highest calling, the female litmus test for respectability revolved around domesticity. Immersed in these ideas, Munguía's activism reflected a middle-class ideology similar to that of many nineteenth-century Euroamerican and African American female activists.
25. "Emma Tenayuca" Texas Women's Biographical vertical files, The Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas, hereafter cited as "Tenayuca" vertical files. Emma Tenayuca, interview with Gerry Poyo, February 21, 1987, Institute of Texan Cultures Oral History Program, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
26. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo. "Living History: Emma Tenayuca Tells Her Story," The Texas Observer: A Journal of Free Voices, October 28, 1983, 8.
27. Emma Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora with the Participation of Oralia Cortez," June 1986, San Antonio, Texas, Emma Tenayuca MSS 420, box 11, folder 5, The Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton Texas, hereafter cited as Tenayuca MSS 420. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; Jan Jarboe Russell, "The Voice that Shook San Antonio," The Texas Observer, August 20, 1999.
28. Emma Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora with the Participation of Oralia Cortez," June 1986, San Antonio, Texas, Emma Tenayuca MSS 420, box 11, folder 5, The Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton Texas, hereafter cited as Tenayuca MSS 420. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; Jan Jarboe Russell, "The Voice that Shook San Antonio," The Texas Observer, August 20, 1999.
29. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora."
30. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora." David Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987), 232.
31. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora." David Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987), 232.
32. "Living History," 9. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999"; "Tenayuca," vertical files; Tenayuca, "Interview"; Julia Kirk Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1925-1939 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984), 103-4.
33. "Living History," 9. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999"; "Tenayuca," vertical files; Tenayuca, "Interview"; Julia Kirk Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1925-1939 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984), 103-4.
34. "Living History," 9. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999"; "Tenayuca," vertical files; Tenayuca, "Interview"; Julia Kirk Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1925-1939 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984), 103-4.
35. "Living History," 9. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999"; "Tenayuca," vertical files; Tenayuca, "Interview"; Julia Kirk Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1925-1939 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984), 103-4.
36. "Living History," 9. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999"; "Tenayuca," vertical files; Tenayuca, "Interview"; Julia Kirk Blackwelder, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1925-1939 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984), 103-4.
37. Sharyll Soto Teneyuca, telephone conversation with author, May 7, 2003. The author has her permission to quote.
38. "Living History," 9.
39. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora."
40. FBI report, December 6, 1941, Houston, Texas, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts, Subject Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, hereafter cited as Tenayuca's FBI file. I thank Professor Albert Camarillo for bringing this important source to my attention.
41. Mark Naison, "Remaking America: Communists and Liberals in the Popular Front," in New Studies in the Politics and Culture of U.S. Communism, ed. Michael E. Brown, et al. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1993), 45-70.
42. Roberto R. Calderón and Emilio Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma B. Tenayuca: A Tribute," in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Castillo (Encino, Calif.: Floricanto Press, 1990), 272. The Workers Alliance often helped resolve relief grievances, fought for more relief, sought less degrading relief practices, stopped evictions, fought against WPA cuts, and struggled against the exploitation of WPA workers. "The Unemployed Movements of the 1930s," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24. Tenayuca believed that the Texas Relief Commission was operating as a cheap labor agency for Anglo farmers. She noted that many of the Mexican-origin workers denied WPA work and relegated to the fields had no experience in agricultural work and some even possessed other types of skills. Tenayuca also despaired at the slow investigative process whereby Mexican-origin workers were told to wait for the caseworker evaluating their case to visit them. Many were still waiting for the caseworker to show up at the time of Tenayuca's letters. Instead of this prolonged process, Tenayuca asked that the WPA order granting unemployed Midwesterners WPA work prior to an investigation for relief status be extended to all states (Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, November 15, 1937; and Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Aubrey Williams, Deputy WPA Administrator, January 13, 1938 and January 19 1938 ["General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 42]). "Living History," 9-10; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 31.
43. Roberto R. Calderón and Emilio Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma B. Tenayuca: A Tribute," in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Castillo (Encino, Calif.: Floricanto Press, 1990), 272. The Workers Alliance often helped resolve relief grievances, fought for more relief, sought less degrading relief practices, stopped evictions, fought against WPA cuts, and struggled against the exploitation of WPA workers. "The Unemployed Movements of the 1930s," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24. Tenayuca believed that the Texas Relief Commission was operating as a cheap labor agency for Anglo farmers. She noted that many of the Mexican-origin workers denied WPA work and relegated to the fields had no experience in agricultural work and some even possessed other types of skills. Tenayuca also despaired at the slow investigative process whereby Mexican-origin workers were told to wait for the caseworker evaluating their case to visit them. Many were still waiting for the caseworker to show up at the time of Tenayuca's letters. Instead of this prolonged process, Tenayuca asked that the WPA order granting unemployed Midwesterners WPA work prior to an investigation for relief status be extended to all states (Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, November 15, 1937; and Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Aubrey Williams, Deputy WPA Administrator, January 13, 1938 and January 19 1938 ["General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 42]). "Living History," 9-10; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 31.
44. Roberto R. Calderón and Emilio Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma B. Tenayuca: A Tribute," in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Castillo (Encino, Calif.: Floricanto Press, 1990), 272. The Workers Alliance often helped resolve relief grievances, fought for more relief, sought less degrading relief practices, stopped evictions, fought against WPA cuts, and struggled against the exploitation of WPA workers. "The Unemployed Movements of the 1930s," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24. Tenayuca believed that the Texas Relief Commission was operating as a cheap labor agency for Anglo farmers. She noted that many of the Mexican-origin workers denied WPA work and relegated to the fields had no experience in agricultural work and some even possessed other types of skills. Tenayuca also despaired at the slow investigative process whereby Mexican-origin workers were told to wait for the caseworker evaluating their case to visit them. Many were still waiting for the caseworker to show up at the time of Tenayuca's letters. Instead of this prolonged process, Tenayuca asked that the WPA order granting unemployed Midwesterners WPA work prior to an investigation for relief status be extended to all states (Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, November 15, 1937; and Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Aubrey Williams, Deputy WPA Administrator, January 13, 1938 and January 19 1938 ["General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 42]). "Living History," 9-10; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 31.
45. Roberto R. Calderón and Emilio Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma B. Tenayuca: A Tribute," in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Castillo (Encino, Calif.: Floricanto Press, 1990), 272. The Workers Alliance often helped resolve relief grievances, fought for more relief, sought less degrading relief practices, stopped evictions, fought against WPA cuts, and struggled against the exploitation of WPA workers. "The Unemployed Movements of the 1930s," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24. Tenayuca believed that the Texas Relief Commission was operating as a cheap labor agency for Anglo farmers. She noted that many of the Mexican-origin workers denied WPA work and relegated to the fields had no experience in agricultural work and some even possessed other types of skills. Tenayuca also despaired at the slow investigative process whereby Mexican-origin workers were told to wait for the caseworker evaluating their case to visit them. Many were still waiting for the caseworker to show up at the time of Tenayuca's letters. Instead of this prolonged process, Tenayuca asked that the WPA order granting unemployed Midwesterners WPA work prior to an investigation for relief status be extended to all states (Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, November 15, 1937; and Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Aubrey Williams, Deputy WPA Administrator, January 13, 1938 and January 19 1938 ["General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 42]). "Living History," 9-10; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 31.
46. Roberto R. Calderón and Emilio Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma B. Tenayuca: A Tribute," in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Castillo (Encino, Calif.: Floricanto Press, 1990), 272. The Workers Alliance often helped resolve relief grievances, fought for more relief, sought less degrading relief practices, stopped evictions, fought against WPA cuts, and struggled against the exploitation of WPA workers. "The Unemployed Movements of the 1930s," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24. Tenayuca believed that the Texas Relief Commission was operating as a cheap labor agency for Anglo farmers. She noted that many of the Mexican-origin workers denied WPA work and relegated to the fields had no experience in agricultural work and some even possessed other types of skills. Tenayuca also despaired at the slow investigative process whereby Mexican-origin workers were told to wait for the caseworker evaluating their case to visit them. Many were still waiting for the caseworker to show up at the time of Tenayuca's letters. Instead of this prolonged process, Tenayuca asked that the WPA order granting unemployed Midwesterners WPA work prior to an investigation for relief status be extended to all states (Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, November 15, 1937; and Emma Tenayuca, Secretary of Workers Alliance in San Antonio to Mr. Aubrey Williams, Deputy WPA Administrator, January 13, 1938 and January 19 1938 ["General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 42]). "Living History," 9-10; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 31.
47. Richard Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," in Women in the Texas Workforce: Yesterday and Today, ed. Richard Croxdale and Melissa Hield (Austin: People's History in Texas, Inc., 1979), 24, 25. "Tenayuca" vertical files. Selden Menefee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office (GPO), 1940), 6, 10.
48. Richard Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," in Women in the Texas Workforce: Yesterday and Today, ed. Richard Croxdale and Melissa Hield (Austin: People's History in Texas, Inc., 1979), 24, 25. "Tenayuca" vertical files. Selden Menefee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office (GPO), 1940), 6, 10.
49. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora." Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 26, 27. Menefee and Cassmore, authors of a study on the pecan shellers in San Antonio conducted by the WPA, did not make the claim that Seligman hired Rodriguez; however, their study did corroborate Tenayuca's claim that there was a close relationship between the two. The study further confirmed Tenayuca's claim that Rodriguez received financial support from Seligman because the union helped to "prevent small operators from undercutting the piecework scale paid by the larger companies" (Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 16-17).
50. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora." Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 26, 27. Menefee and Cassmore, authors of a study on the pecan shellers in San Antonio conducted by the WPA, did not make the claim that Seligman hired Rodriguez; however, their study did corroborate Tenayuca's claim that there was a close relationship between the two. The study further confirmed Tenayuca's claim that Rodriguez received financial support from Seligman because the union helped to "prevent small operators from undercutting the piecework scale paid by the larger companies" (Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 16-17).
51. Tenayuca, "Interview with Emilio Zamora." Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 26, 27. Menefee and Cassmore, authors of a study on the pecan shellers in San Antonio conducted by the WPA, did not make the claim that Seligman hired Rodriguez; however, their study did corroborate Tenayuca's claim that there was a close relationship between the two. The study further confirmed Tenayuca's claim that Rodriguez received financial support from Seligman because the union helped to "prevent small operators from undercutting the piecework scale paid by the larger companies" (Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 16-17).
52. Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 17. Others who opposed the strike included the American Chamber of Commerce, the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, LULAC, and the Catholic Church. One church official offered to help strikers on the condition that they reject CIO leadership, which some conflated with communism. Strikers decided to stick with the CIO (Richard A. Garcia, Rise of the Mexican American Middle Class: San Antonio, 1929-1941 [College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991]).
53. Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 17. Others who opposed the strike included the American Chamber of Commerce, the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, LULAC, and the Catholic Church. One church official offered to help strikers on the condition that they reject CIO leadership, which some conflated with communism. Strikers decided to stick with the CIO (Richard A. Garcia, Rise of the Mexican American Middle Class: San Antonio, 1929-1941 [College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991]).
54. "Pecan Plant Workers Strike," San Antonio Light, January 31, 1938, 1.
55. "Pecan Strike Heads Offer to Quit," San Antonio Light, February 3, 1938, 1, 4. Redbaiting came from a national source as well. In a Time magazine article on Emma Tenayuca and the Pecan Shellers' Strike, the writer characterized Tenayuca as "little Emma Tenayuca, a slim, vivacious labor organizer with black eyes and a Red philosophy . . . [who] from her office at the local Workers Alliance. . . continued to pull strings with the assistance of her "gang," some 300 devoted followers whom she deploys with a masterly hand in picket lines or mass meeting" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17).
56. "Pecan Strike Heads Offer to Quit," San Antonio Light, February 3, 1938, 1, 4. Redbaiting came from a national source as well. In a Time magazine article on Emma Tenayuca and the Pecan Shellers' Strike, the writer characterized Tenayuca as "little Emma Tenayuca, a slim, vivacious labor organizer with black eyes and a Red philosophy . . . [who] from her office at the local Workers Alliance. . . continued to pull strings with the assistance of her "gang," some 300 devoted followers whom she deploys with a masterly hand in picket lines or mass meeting" ("La Pasionaria de Texas," Time, February 28, 1938, 17).
57. Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 18. "S.A. Strikers Tell Police Beatings," San Antonio Light, February 15, 1938, 1; and Blackwelder, Women of the Depression, 143.
58. Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 18. "S.A. Strikers Tell Police Beatings," San Antonio Light, February 15, 1938, 1; and Blackwelder, Women of the Depression, 143.
59. Menefee and Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio, 18. "S.A. Strikers Tell Police Beatings," San Antonio Light, February 15, 1938, 1; and Blackwelder, Women of the Depression, 143.
60. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 28. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; "Living History" 13; Turner, "A Night That Changed Lives, San Antonio." Homer Brooks ran unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in 1936. Naison, "Remaking America," 49.
61. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 28. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; "Living History" 13; Turner, "A Night That Changed Lives, San Antonio." Homer Brooks ran unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in 1936. Naison, "Remaking America," 49.
62. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 28. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; "Living History" 13; Turner, "A Night That Changed Lives, San Antonio." Homer Brooks ran unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in 1936. Naison, "Remaking America," 49.
63. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Sheller's Strike," 28. Tenayuca, interview with Poyo; "Living History" 13; Turner, "A Night That Changed Lives, San Antonio." Homer Brooks ran unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in 1936. Naison, "Remaking America," 49.
64. Emma Tenayuca to Mrs. Jimenez, July 31, 1973, part of the "Texas Women in History" exhibit documents found in The Women's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Shelter's Strike," 31-32.
65. Emma Tenayuca to Mrs. Jimenez, July 31, 1973, part of the "Texas Women in History" exhibit documents found in The Women's Collection, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas. Croxdale, "The 1938 San Antonio Pecan Shelter's Strike," 31-32.
66. Tenayuca FBI file; and Calderon and Zamora, "Manuela Solis Sager and Emma Tenayuca: A Tribute," 274.
67. Ernie Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939," Texas Public Radio Newsroom, aired August 24, 2001. Legionnaires were outraged because the mayor had granted the Communists permission to meet in a building that had been dedicated to San Antonio's fallen World War I heroes. Maury Maverick, "One San Antonio Maverick Sticks by Another," San Antonio Express-News, August 1, 1999, 3H.
68. Ernie Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939," Texas Public Radio Newsroom, aired August 24, 2001. Legionnaires were outraged because the mayor had granted the Communists permission to meet in a building that had been dedicated to San Antonio's fallen World War I heroes. Maury Maverick, "One San Antonio Maverick Sticks by Another," San Antonio Express-News, August 1, 1999, 3H.
69. Kever, "Women"; and Jan Jarboe, "S.A.'s Linen Needs Airing," San Antonio Express-News, March 3,1985. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 1. A number of photographs of Father M. A. Valenta and Clem Smith place them at the Municipal Auditorium on August 25, 1939. Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939." Gus. T. Jones to Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, August 26, 1939, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maury Maverick, "Tenayuca's Lessons Are Worth Another Look," San Antonio Express-News, September 26, 1999, 3G. The San Antonio Light Collection at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio contains a black and white photograph (2223-VV) of Maury Maverick hanged in effigy at City Hall dated August 25, 1939.
70. Kever, "Women"; and Jan Jarboe, "S.A.'s Linen Needs Airing," San Antonio Express-News, March 3,1985. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 1. A number of photographs of Father M. A. Valenta and Clem Smith place them at the Municipal Auditorium on August 25, 1939. Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939." Gus. T. Jones to Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, August 26, 1939, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maury Maverick, "Tenayuca's Lessons Are Worth Another Look," San Antonio Express-News, September 26, 1999, 3G. The San Antonio Light Collection at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio contains a black and white photograph (2223-VV) of Maury Maverick hanged in effigy at City Hall dated August 25, 1939.
71. Kever, "Women"; and Jan Jarboe, "S.A.'s Linen Needs Airing," San Antonio Express-News, March 3,1985. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 1. A number of photographs of Father M. A. Valenta and Clem Smith place them at the Municipal Auditorium on August 25, 1939. Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939." Gus. T. Jones to Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, August 26, 1939, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maury Maverick, "Tenayuca's Lessons Are Worth Another Look," San Antonio Express-News, September 26, 1999, 3G. The San Antonio Light Collection at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio contains a black and white photograph (2223-VV) of Maury Maverick hanged in effigy at City Hall dated August 25, 1939.
72. Kever, "Women"; and Jan Jarboe, "S.A.'s Linen Needs Airing," San Antonio Express-News, March 3,1985. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 1. A number of photographs of Father M. A. Valenta and Clem Smith place them at the Municipal Auditorium on August 25, 1939. Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939." Gus. T. Jones to Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, August 26, 1939, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maury Maverick, "Tenayuca's Lessons Are Worth Another Look," San Antonio Express-News, September 26, 1999, 3G. The San Antonio Light Collection at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio contains a black and white photograph (2223-VV) of Maury Maverick hanged in effigy at City Hall dated August 25, 1939.
73. Kever, "Women"; and Jan Jarboe, "S.A.'s Linen Needs Airing," San Antonio Express-News, March 3,1985. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 1. A number of photographs of Father M. A. Valenta and Clem Smith place them at the Municipal Auditorium on August 25, 1939. Villarreal, "San Antonio Landmark Site of Riot in 1939." Gus. T. Jones to Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, August 26, 1939, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maury Maverick, "Tenayuca's Lessons Are Worth Another Look," San Antonio Express-News, September 26, 1999, 3G. The San Antonio Light Collection at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio contains a black and white photograph (2223-VV) of Maury Maverick hanged in effigy at City Hall dated August 25, 1939.
74. Marina Pisano, "Labor Leader's Legacy Endures: Former Union Organizer Living a Quiet Life - Sort Of," San Antonio Express-News, February 1, 1990, 3; and Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46.
75. Marina Pisano, "Labor Leader's Legacy Endures: Former Union Organizer Living a Quiet Life - Sort Of," San Antonio Express-News, February 1, 1990, 3; and Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46.
76. "Tenayuca, 1916-1999." R. J. Abbaticchio Jr to Director FBI, September 8, 1941, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maurice Isserman, If I Had a Hammer: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 7-8.
77. "Tenayuca, 1916-1999." R. J. Abbaticchio Jr to Director FBI, September 8, 1941, Tenayuca's FBI file. Maurice Isserman, If I Had a Hammer: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 7-8.
78. "Divorce Decree, 1941, from Homer Brooks, and Restoration of Her Maiden Name," Tenayuca MSS, 420, box 7, folder 6. SAC, San Francisco to Director, FBI, 20 April 1953, Tenayuca's FBI file. FBI report, December 6, 1941, Tenayuca's FBI file. FBI reports, May 6, 1942, and Special Agent in Charge (SAC), San Francisco to Director, FBI, April 20, 1953, Tenayuca's FBI file. Evidence for these claims can be found throughout the Emma Tenayuca FBI file, which extends from 1939 to 1953. In 1953, the FBI ended its surveillance of Tenayuca, adding only one other document to her file in 1968. This document simply recorded her new address in San Antonio, Texas. Robert L. Sikes, 2nd Lieut., Assistant Recruiting Officer, to Miss Emma B. Giraud, December 29, 1942; Charles D. Apple, Assistant Recruiting and Induction Officer to Miss Emma Teneyuca, January 8, 1943; Stanley Kock, Colonel, Cavalry, Recruiting and Induction Officer to Mrs. Emma Teneyuca, January 29, 1943, Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 1, folder 9; and "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999."
79. SAC, San Francisco to Director, FBI, April 20, 1953, Tenayuca's FBI file. Isserman, If I Had a Hammer, 3-34; and Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46.
80. SAC, San Francisco to Director, FBI, April 20, 1953, Tenayuca's FBI file. Isserman, If I Had a Hammer, 3-34; and Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46.
81. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999." Nomination form for the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 22. Some of the scholars who corresponded or received assistance from Emma Tenayuca include Teresa Palomo Acosta, Irene Blea, Roberto Calderon, Martha Cotera, Julia Curry, Juan Gómez-Quiñones, Margarita Melville, Cynthia E. Orozco, Jerry Poyo, Carmen Tafolla, Zaragosa Vargas, Ruthe Winegarten, and Emilio Zamora. She also assisted high school students with their projects. Tenayuca also continued to keep up with local, state, and national politics, supporting the San Antonio mayoral campaigns of Henry G. Cisneros and the Texas gubernatorial campaign of Ann Richards. For more information, see "General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, boxes 3-5.
82. Turner, "A Night that Changed San Antonio," 46. "Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999." Nomination form for the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, Tenayuca MSS. 420, box 5, folder 22. Some of the scholars who corresponded or received assistance from Emma Tenayuca include Teresa Palomo Acosta, Irene Blea, Roberto Calderon, Martha Cotera, Julia Curry, Juan Gómez-Quiñones, Margarita Melville, Cynthia E. Orozco, Jerry Poyo, Carmen Tafolla, Zaragosa Vargas, Ruthe Winegarten, and Emilio Zamora. She also assisted high school students with their projects. Tenayuca also continued to keep up with local, state, and national politics, supporting the San Antonio mayoral campaigns of Henry G. Cisneros and the Texas gubernatorial campaign of Ann Richards. For more information, see "General Correspondence: Friends and Associates," Tenayuca MSS. 420, boxes 3-5.
83. The Congress of Spanish-Speaking Peoples was a national Chicano civil rights organization founded in 1938-1939 by labor activist Luisa Moreno. Its membership included students, teachers, politicians, and unionists. According to scholars Matt S. Meier and Feliciano Rivera, the activist position of the Congress drew the attention of FBI investigators. Historian Mario T. García characterizes the Congress as a Popular Front organization and a "working-class movement in coalition with progressive liberals" led by the leftist element of the Mexican American generation (Meier and Rivera, Dictionary of Mexican American History [Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981], 102; and Mario T. García, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960 [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989], 145-46). Emma Tenayuca and Homer Brooks, "The Mexican Question in the Southwest," The Communist, March 1939, 264, 265-66.
84. The Congress of Spanish-Speaking Peoples was a national Chicano civil rights organization founded in 1938-1939 by labor activist Luisa Moreno. Its membership included students, teachers, politicians, and unionists. According to scholars Matt S. Meier and Feliciano Rivera, the activist position of the Congress drew the attention of FBI investigators. Historian Mario T. García characterizes the Congress as a Popular Front organization and a "working-class movement in coalition with progressive liberals" led by the leftist element of the Mexican American generation (Meier and Rivera, Dictionary of Mexican American History [Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981], 102; and Mario T. García, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960 [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989], 145-46). Emma Tenayuca and Homer Brooks, "The Mexican Question in the Southwest," The Communist, March 1939, 264, 265-66.
85. The Congress of Spanish-Speaking Peoples was a national Chicano civil rights organization founded in 1938-1939 by labor activist Luisa Moreno. Its membership included students, teachers, politicians, and unionists. According to scholars Matt S. Meier and Feliciano Rivera, the activist position of the Congress drew the attention of FBI investigators. Historian Mario T. García characterizes the Congress as a Popular Front organization and a "working-class movement in coalition with progressive liberals" led by the leftist element of the Mexican American generation (Meier and Rivera, Dictionary of Mexican American History [Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981], 102; and Mario T. García, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960 [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989], 145-46). Emma Tenayuca and Homer Brooks, "The Mexican Question in the Southwest," The Communist, March 1939, 264, 265-66.
86. Tenayuca and Brooks, "The Mexican Question in the Southwest," 267-68.
87. "Popular Front," in Encyclopedia of the American Left, ed. Paul Buhle and Dan Georgakas (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24.
88. "Popular Front," in Encyclopedia of the American Left, ed. Paul Buhle and Dan Georgakas (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), 796; and Tenayuca, interview with Poyo, 24.
89. Dawn Letson, comp., "Emma Tenayuca: A Guide to the Collection, " Tenayuca MSS. 420.