Hola, OC REFORMISTAS–
The 3rd Annual Barrio History Symposium is being held at Golden West College on Saturday May 30th from 8-3 pm. Here is more info I received via e-mail:
- “The Orange County Mexican American Historical Society, in association with GWC Student Activities Office and FAMILIA Ancestral Research Association, invites you to the 3rd Annual Barrio History Symposium to be held May 30, 2009 at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, CA. The symposium features speakers involved in historical research and documentation of Mexican American communities known as barrios, campos, and colonias. This year’s theme focuses on events, often obscure, that helped to shape the course of local Mexican American history and their relationship to mainstream history.” (Marty Grajeda-BHS Planning Chair)
Event Flyer: BHS2009PosterFlyer
As a side note, I attended last years event, and it was truly an inspirational, thought-provoking symposium on Latino/Chicano/Mexican American history, identity, and memory. It opened my eyes to the way in which historical research of Latino neighborhoods functions in preserving the memories and voices of regular everyday people, emphasizing a bottom-up approach to documenting history, an important paradigm switch, so to speak, from the standard, common top-down approach of documenting history.
Muchas Gracias,
Please add me to any e-mail or other communication list you may have for these events or related topics and/or issues. I first heard of the Orange County Mexican American Historical Society at an annual reunion of my dad’s old Santa Ana neighborhood “Thee Second Streeters” a couple of years ago but received no other information. I havwe collected quite a few oral histories and photos from family and friends but time slips by and the opportunities for making a coherent record are fast disappearing as the gente pass.