Frontera Collection of Mexican American Music

Image
Image for Frontera Collection of Mexican American Music
Annotation

This collection of commercially produced Mexican American vernacular music is the largest of its kind, with more than 100,000 recordings. The music, originally published between 1905 and the 1990s, is primarily in Spanish. This website presents digitized versions of roughly 30,000 recordings. The music ranges widely in style and includes lyric songs, canciones, boleros, rancheras, sones, instrumental music, and the first recordings of norte and conjunto music, as well as politically motivated speeches and comedy skits.

A browseable list of subjects shows that love (unrequited love, adultery, regrets), war (Korean War, Mexican Revolution, World War I and II), and praise (of country, guitar, mother) are common themes in the collection. Unfortunately, the songs are available to the general public only in 50-second sound clips. Users interested in gaining full access to a select group of songs for research are encouraged to contact the website's administrators.

American Experience: A Class Apart

Description

From PBS:

Built around the landmark 1954 legal case Hernandez v. Texas, the film interweaves the stories of its central characters with a broader story of the civil rights movement. It also brings to life the heroic post-World War II struggle of Mexican Americans fighting to dismantle the discrimination targeted against them.

Dig Deep into Historical Understanding: The U.S.-Mexican War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Description

According to Constitutional Connections, Dr. Marie E. Montoya of New York University focuses "on the collision of legal regimes regarding property rights that followed the U.S.-Mexican War. She guides viewers through interrogation of primary documents, looking at two versions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Taking as its starting point the fictionalized account projected by the American Girl doll Josefina Montoya, she discusses both the benefits and challenges of many children's first engagement with that history: One which takes place in an idyllic age, uncomplicated by questions of contingency and enamored with the myth of progress."

The Real Story of Josefina Montoya, American Girl: Women, Property, and Conquest on the Mexican Frontier

Description

According to Constitutional Connections, Dr. Marie E. Montoya of New York University focuses "on the collision of legal regimes regarding property rights that followed the U.S.-Mexican War. She guides viewers through interrogation of primary documents, looking at two versions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Taking as its starting point the fictionalized account projected by the American Girl doll Josefina Montoya, she discusses both the benefits and challenges of many children's first engagement with that history: one which takes place in an idyllic age, uncomplicated by questions of contingency and enamored with the myth of progress."

To view this lecture, select "The Real Story of Josefina Montoya American Girl" under "Presentation Video."

Zoot Suit Riots

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Zoot Suit Riots, a confrontation between flashy young men who did not serve in the war and those soldiers returning from World War II.

This feature is no longer available.

We Are California Workshop

Description

A new interactive online exhibit from the California Council for the Humanities (CCH)—"We Are California"—will explore the history and stories of those who have immigrated or migrated to California. A new partnership between the Council and the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) will help to bring this exciting resource to the classroom. The topic of these workshops will be "The Era of Great Internal Migrations to California" between World War I and World War II. It will discuss, contrast, and analyze the experiences of Dust Bowl migrants to California, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans.

Contact name
Renteria, Rosemary
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
California History-Social Science Project
Phone number
530-752-0572
Target Audience
K-12
Start Date
Duration
Three hours
End Date

The Alamo

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how, in 1836, during the Texan struggle for independence from Mexico, a small group of Texan revolutionaries fought a much-larger army of Mexican soldiers at the Battle of the Alamo.

This feature is no longer available.

The Bracero Program

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how temporary workers from Mexico filled huge labor shortages created by World War II and became part of the continuing debate about immigration.

This feature is no longer available.