Porfirismo During the Mexican Revolution
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2012-01-01 Porfirismo during the Mexican Revolution: Exile and the Politics of Representation, 1910-1920 Nancy Alexandra Aguirre University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the History Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, and the Latin American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Aguirre, Nancy Alexandra, "Porfirismo during the Mexican Revolution: Exile and the Politics of Representation, 1910-1920" (2012). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1773. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/1773 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PORFIRISMO DURING THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: EXILE AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION, 1910-1920 NANCY ALEXANDRA AGUIRRE Department of History APPROVED: Samuel Brunk, Ph.D., Chair Cheryl E. Martin, Ph.D. Sandra McGee Deutsch, Ph.D. Frank G. Pérez, Ph.D. Benjamin C. Flores, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Nancy Alexandra Aguirre 2012 PORFIRISMO DURING THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION: EXILE AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION, 1910-1920 by NANCY ALEXANDRA AGUIRRE, B.A., M.A. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO December 2012 Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation has been a dream of mine since I found my passion for history as a seventh-grade Texas History student. It has been a long journey, and I am thankful for everyone who has offered their encouragement along the way. I could not have accomplished this goal without your support. First, I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, who have challenged me as a scholar while offering their friendship and guidance over the past five years. Samuel Brunk has served as my advisor, advocate, and mentor for over five years. Thank you for always being open to my ideas, and for being critical when necessary. I always enjoyed our conversations on our way to class (and at Starbucks), and I know that I would not have enjoyed the writing process as much as I did without your collaboration. I began the doctoral program with almost no knowledge of Borderlands History, and I am grateful to Cheryl Martin, who taught me to broaden my thinking about political, temporal, cultural, and imagined borderlands. Cheryl, I would not have been able to frame this project as a borderlands study without this training. Sandra McGee Deutsch prompted me to incorporate gender analysis in my coursework, in this dissertation, and in other scholarly endeavors. Sandy—thank you for your continuous enthusiasm about my work. Frank G. Pérez’s graduate courses in communication helped me to consider the relationship between media, identity, and culture along the borderlands. Frank, I am especially thankful for your comments on the fourth chapter of this dissertation and for your suggestions about expanding my work in the realm of media studies. Overall, I could not have asked for a better dissertation committee, and my project has benefitted immeasurably from your input. I had the privilege of working and interacting with the wonderful faculty and staff of the UTEP History Department. Thank you to Julia Schiavone-Camacho for serving on my Cultural Studies Portfolio Committee and for challenging me to place my work in an interdisciplinary context. I would also like to thank Charles Ambler, Adam Arenson, Ernesto Chávez, Yolanda Chávez-Leyva, Maceo iv Dailey, Paul Edison, Keith Erekson, Joshua Fan, Yasuhide Kawashima, Dana Wessell Lightfoot, Charles Martin, Jeffrey Shepherd, and Michael Topp. I have always valued our academic discussions, and our conversations about Odessa, sports, and life helped to get me through the most difficult moments. I would also like to thank Edith Yañez, Alma Acosta-Valles, and Iliana Rosales for their dedication to the department, for their helpfulness and advice, and for always greeting everyone with a smile and warm “hello.” Thank you to Brenda Risch in the Women’s Studies Department. Your course on Feminist Theory and Methodology fundamentally changed my worldview and my work. Thank you also to Claudia Rivers and the staff at UTEP Special Collections for help as I wrote the dissertation. Over the years, many graduate students have shared their ideas, critiques and insight with me. I have learned much from our conversations, and I am happy to be a part of such a dynamic group of Borderlands Scholars. In particular, I would like to thank Susannah Aquilina, Mayra Ávila, Jennifer Beeler, Mike Bess, Joanna Camacho-Escobar, Braulio Cañas, Sheron Caton, Selfa Chew-Smithart, Scott Comar, Frank DeLaO, Eduardo García, Nancy González, Pamela Krch, Gene Morales, Juana Moriel- Payne, Antonio Reyes López, Aaron Margolis, Irma Montelongo, Erin Quevedo, Yvonne Realivásquez, Michael Reese, Cynthia Rentería, Melanie Rodríguez, Daniel Romero, David Romo, María Schrock, Heather Sinclair, Jared Tamez, Mario Villa, Aaron Waggoner, and Abbie Wieser. I owe special thanks to Cristóbal Borges, Jill Constantin, John Paul Nuño, Eva Nohemí Orozco, Alejandro Rodríguez- Mayoral, Jaime Ruiz, and James Starling. Thank you for your camaraderie; I will always cherish our friendship. The dissertation could not have been completed without generous financial support. The UTEP Cotton Graduate Scholarship, the UTEP Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant, and the Phi Alpha Theta Doctoral Scholarship provided funding for the research trips. The UTEP Woman’s Auxiliary Fellowship and the Frances G. Harper History Dissertation Research Award were invaluable, as they v allowed me to focus entirely on writing. Thank you to Patricia Witherspoon, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, for providing support for various conferences, research, and writing. In the eight months in which I embarked on my research trips, I encountered many people who shared their lives, homes, stories, and advice with me. This was one of the happiest and most fruitful periods of my life, and thanks to you I grew as a scholar and as a human being. I would like to thank the staff at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection and the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at UT Austin. I am also grateful for the hospitality and generosity of the Campos family in Austin. I received help from the staff at numerous archives in Mexico City, including: el Archivo General de la Nación, Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México CARSO, and the Hemeroteca Nacional at the UNAM. I am indebted to the staff and residents at the Casa de los Amigos. Thank you for your company, especially when I felt homesick, for your friendship, and for enriching my experience en el DF. I would also like to thank my cousin, Professor Víctor Grovas Hajj, for posing challenging questions, taking me on walking tours of important sites related to the Porfiriato, and for encouraging me in my academic endeavors. I feel very fortunate to share this accomplishment with you. During my time in San Antonio, I spoke with many people who helped me to get a deeper understanding of San Antonio’s history. First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to Arturo Madrid for his support these past two years. Thank you for providing a forum to present my work to others who are equally invested in the history of San Antonio. Antonia Castañeda offered highly insightful and thought-provoking comments about my work, particularly on the issue of gender analysis. Lance Aaron at the Museo Alameda helped me to come in contact with numerous descendants of Porfirista exiles. Also, our conversations about the impact of Porfiristas on modern Mexican American thought were valuable as I formulated my argument for the dissertation. Lionel Sosa shared his vi experiences working on the documentary The Children of the Revolución , and he helped me gain a better understanding of the complexities of the Mexican Revolution in San Antonio. The staff at the Institute of Texan Cultures gave me direction in the initial phase of the research. At Special Collections in Trinity University’s Coates Library, Amy Roberson helped me to access important primary sources. I would also like to offer special thanks to the Claretian Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate for their hospitality at Villa María, and for the residents who made my stay in San Antonio extra special. This dissertation would not have been possible without the input of numerous descendants of Mexican exiles who fled to San Antonio. I would like to thank the following: María Alicia Brochmann, Francisco Cigarroa, Joaquín Cigarroa, Jr., George Cisneros, Henry Cisneros, Mary Alice Cisneros, Henry B. González III, Mónica Lozano, Mark McMunn, Aureliano “Bud” Urrutia, and Elise Urrutia Barenblat. Our conversations added a personal element to my research, and your enthusiasm and belief in this project keeps me motivated. Over the years, I have received an immeasurable amount of love and support from teachers and professors, friends, and family. They say that completing a doctoral education is a community effort, and I know for a fact that it is. My teachers at Gale Pond Alamo Elementary, Bowie Junior High, and Odessa High School in my hometown of Odessa, Texas, encouraged me in my pursuit of becoming a teacher. They also believed that it was perfectly acceptable for a teenager to want a Ph.D. in history. My professors at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin taught me how to bridge the fields of history and communication in my work.