Nurturing Tradition Fostering Change

Nurturing Tradition Fostering Change Patriotism, Community Service and the Women’s Auxiliary of American Legion Tony F. Soza-Ray Martínez Post 41 By Charles H. Sanderson Edited by Dr. Pete R. Dimas Photo on inside cover courtesy of American Legion Post 41 Women’s Auxiliary Contents The beginning ..................................................5 The roots of activism ........................................7 The changing times ..........................................10 On the home front ............................................12 The returning troops .........................................14 Starting the Auxiliary ........................................15 A well-baby clinic ..............................................16 Dancing through the ’50s ..................................19 Taking up causes ...............................................22 Friendships born ...............................................24 Engaging leaders and fostering change .............26 Shifting focus ....................................................29 Vietnam years ...................................................32 A generation comes home in the 1970s .............35 Nurturing tradition ............................................37 Convention time in the 1990s ............................39 The Auxiliary today ...........................................41 3 Photo on inside cover courtesy of American Legion Post 41 Women’s Auxiliary Women’s 41 American Legion Post Photo on inside cover courtesy of A note from the Author The year 2009 was not a favorite for many in Phoenix. Banks crumbled and companies folded. Politicians yelled and activists yelled back. For me, these things all fade into the background, replaced by memories of my grandmother Edith’s death. She was not just a grandmother to me. This fiesty woman, all spitfire and furrowed brow, was the most dominant woman of my life – the closest thing I had to a mother at all through a difficult childhood. When Latino Perspectives Magazine asked me to document the story of Post 41’s Auxiliary, it was more than a trip into South Phoenix history for me. With a different eye, I spent the last portion of the year listening to the words of Post 41’s Auxiliary members. I watched their faces, catching glimpses of a lost grandmother. A look; a phrase; all the hidden nuances in a dozen women came together like a jigsaw puzzle memory. They would talk of Christmas, and I could smell my grandmother’s tamales. When they talked of dances, I could see my grandmother doing the same. As these women told stories of how they nurtured a struggling community, and fostered change in Phoenix, they unwittingly helped me to conjure up my grandmother one last time. For this and their stories, I’m forever thankful to Lorraine Vasquez, Louise Vildosola, Lupe Valenzuela, Mary Córdova, Eleanor Abeytia and Dolores Peña. Current Auxiliary president Josephine Herrera, and past president Patsy Lugo were of invalu- able help, as were past Commander Robert Hernandez and so many more. I would be remiss if I did not point out this book would be nearly impossible without the help of Dr. Pete R. Dimas, Christine Marín and Jean Reynolds. Their contributions to the story of Mexican Americans in Phoenix have helped to piece together this city’s jigsaw puzzle of forgotten memories. The history of South Phoenix continues to be told in the smiles and words of those who have lived it. We simply need to listen. Copyright © 2010 Nurturing Tradition, Fostering Change, by Charles H. Sanderson Published by Latino Perspectives Media and by The Raul H. Castro Institute Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or guarantees with respect to the accuracy of the interviewees’ recollections, and specifically disclaim any intent to defame or slight any people, places, or organizations. Second edition 2010, Phoenix, Arizona Printed in the United States of America. 4 Nurturing Tradition, Fostering Change The beginning time. The night she described was January 30, 1948. At 9:00 p.m., Rebecca Valenzuela HE HEAT IN PHOENIX is breaking finally. called the meeting to order, and Post 41 TWith September gone and October member Efren Valenzuela began outlining half done, the waning weeks of 2009 have a the Women’s Auxiliary’s mission.1 gentler light. Louise Vildosola sits elegantly The Auxiliary had begun, nationally, in in a chair of her living room, with the glow 1919 alongside the new American Legion to of a midday sun across her face. The light unite the wives, sisters and mothers of vet- and shadow shows 91 gentle years mapped erans. The organization was born out of the out on her skin like beautiful lacework. Her need for women to come together and better son wanders through the house, working deal with the challenges of raising a family on some project as she remembers a day 61 while their husbands were off at war. The years gone. In her hands is an old photograph American Legion itself was chartered for the of several men; among them are her broth- veterans of wars. The Auxiliary focused on ers, Nick and Moses. helping these soldiers enter civil life again She gazes off through the wall of her and find the resources they would need. living room and back to that day in her Since being chartered by Congress in brother Nick Perez’s living room. She be- 1920, the American Legion Auxiliary has gins to describe the memory in a crisp voice grown to include veterans’ granddaughters that makes her age hard to believe, “They and great-granddaughters, becoming the decided to have an Auxiliary, so being that largest patriotic women’s service organiza- my brother was very active with the Post, he tion in the world with almost a million organized a meeting to get the girls started. members. The Auxiliary has gone on to And they had the meeting at his house. So implement hundreds of programs to assist there’s how I was involved. My husband veterans, their families, and the commu- wasn’t a veteran, but my brothers were.” nity itself. She explains, matter-of-factly, “so I was... Locally, the American Legion Tony F. like a charter member, and there’s very few Soza/Ray Martinez Post 41 and the Post 41 living now. There were about 12 of us.” Women’s Auxiliary have worked together Several women were present that eve- in an effort that goes beyond helping the ning; among them were Anita Lewis, Pina community. These members took on the Fuentes, Josephine Valenzuela, Rebecca struggle for civil liberties that Mexican Valenzuela, Dora Gomez, Ofelia Soza and Americans in Phoenix were not previously her sister Amelia. afforded. Since the start of that fight, the That’s as far as Vildosola goes in her Post has grown through the decades to gain description of the Women’s Auxiliary at political clout in Phoenix and become a the Tony F. Soza/Ray Martinez American trustworthy legend in the community. Legion Post 41 in Phoenix. Louise doesn’t Louise Vildosola hasn’t been to a meet- give any details, and apologizes humbly for ing in a while. She doesn’t drive and her sec- not having more stories to share about that ond husband has passed. She has to convince 5 Nurturing Tradition, Fostering Change Photo courtesy of American Legion Post 41 Women’s Auxiliary Women’s 41 American Legion Post Photo courtesy of Anita Lewis Chavez, seated at center, with other members of American Legion Post 41 Women’s Auxiliary in 1948 her family to take her, “I know they would the numerous events and causes they are if I ask, but...” Louise doesn’t need to finish involved with at the moment. They fairly her sentence; she doesn’t want to impose glow in the telling of their various dances, on her family. Still she occasionally finds a shirt sales, holiday parties and menudo way to the Post for dinners honoring past breakfast events to raise money for scholar- commanders and Auxiliary presidents— ships and meals for homeless veterans. she being one of them. She even got down These efforts have long, deep roots in to the Post this year to celebrate an old their community—one that has sat south friend’s birthday; Adam Diaz had turned of the railroad tracks, on the dusty edges 100 on September 2, 2009. of downtown Phoenix, for decades. Tight- In numerous interviews, many knit barrios had to make their own way, members of the Post 41 Auxiliary will with little or no city resources. Everyone speak humbly of community events or the knew everyone; everyone had a nickname; excitement of going to a state or national everybody had to pitch in, if they could. convention. Don’t be fooled by this gentle, Life revolved around the churches, parks humble presentation in their voices. The and front porches where people would women of Post 41 have made their mark in gather and wash away the day’s trials with Phoenix history—and continue to do so. prayer, dancing and a drink. One trait of the currently active In the early 1900s, Mexican Ameri- members of Post 41 Women’s Auxiliary can women in Phoenix were frequently is that they are just that: active. They the primary breadwinners for many won’t talk much about the past, unless of these households, and often as pressed. It pleases them more to describe single mothers. With few glamorous 6 Nurturing Tradition, Fostering Change opportunities, many took jobs as The roots of activism laundry or domestic workers—such as young Minnie Rangel Martínez who, at HENEVER AN ISSUE AROSE for the barrio, fourteen, was a maid for a beauty parlor Wsomeone was there to tackle the in the mornings; she then labored in a problem. Taking action was the only way hand-laundry all afternoon. Some women they could protect their community. This found jobs as stenographers, clerks or determination grew to be a strong trait in in retail sales. A few found success in the children that would eventually follow owning restaurants or managing hotels.

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