Joaquín Ortega: Forging Pan-Americanism at the University of New Mexico

by Russ Davidson

Overview

In this important work Russ Davidson presents the first biography of Joaquín Ortega, introducing readers to Ortega’s life and work at the University of New Mexico as well as his close relationship with then UNM president James Zimmerman and other major figures. More than biography, Davidson’s study closely examines the complex relationship UNM has had with Latin America as well as with the Hispanic community in New Mexico and that community’s struggles to have equal representation of culture and education within an Anglo-dominated university and state in the first half of the twentieth century. Ortega’s efforts played a significant role in UNM’s evolution into a culturally diverse place of learning, and his story overlays the history of how ethnic groups began to work together to incorporate Latin American, Pan-American, New Mexican, and borderland studies into the educational fabric of the university at a pivotal time. This long-overdue volume is an illuminating look at the rich and complex history of the university and the communities it serves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826362032
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Series:	Contextos Series
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Russ Davidson served as a curator of Latin American and Iberian Collections and was a professor of librarianship at the University of New Mexico from 1979 to 2004.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter One. Forging a Distinctive Identity and Emphasis for UNM: The Semi-Successes of the Pre-Zimmerman Years
Chapter Two. Developing the Southwest-Latin America Focus, 1927-1940
Chapter Three. "Little Latin America": The SIAA in Theory and Practice
Chapter Four. Ortega on Language and Ethnic Identity
Chapter Five. Ortega: Reorientation and Decline
Chapter Six. Conclusion

Epilogue
Appendix
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is not a narrow biography focused on one man's greatness in creating a university program; rather, it is a comprehensive study of UNM's uneven development of its Latin American and Hispanic studies programs. . . . This book reinstates [Ortega's] significance while adding to our knowledge of Spaniards in the United States."—Cynthia E. Orozco, Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"Joaquín Ortega: Forging Pan-Americanism at the University of New Mexico fills a void in the history of the University of New Mexico and the state by examining with a critical eye the tension between the university, its relationship with the Americas, and its mission for educating native Hispano New Mexicans."—Miguel Gandert, author of Nuevo México Profundo: Rituals of an Indo-Hispano Homeland

From the Publisher