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From Spanish-Speaking to Latino: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in West Michigan, 1924-1978

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From Spanish-Speaking to Latino: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in West Michigan, 1924-1978 From Spanish-Speaking to Latino: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in West Michigan, 1924-1978 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Delia Fernández, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Professor Lilia Fernández, Advisor Professor Judy Tzu-Chun Wu Professor Kevin Boyle Copyright by Delia Fernández 2015 Abstract Though the concept of “Latino” is something that in today’s society is assumed to be a given category, it is necessary to examine how and why people from distinct ethnic groups embraced a panethnic Latino identity. This dissertation challenges the conventional knowledge on panethnic identity formation. Previous scholarship situates Latino identity as political in nature and a result of 1960s and 1970s activism. My research on Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Grand Rapids, Michigan from the 1920s to the 1970s, shows that panethnicity is not only rooted in Spanish-speaking people’s relationship with and to the state, but rather also emerges from individuals’ desire for human connection. Their familiarity with religion, cultural practices, and shared language helped Mexicans and Puerto Ricans ward off loneliness in their new surrounding. Also, panethnic community and Latino identity formation emerged in Grand Rapids in the 1950s, well before other works suggest. Though there was occasionally tension between some Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, many established affective and kinship bonds through interactions in the Catholic Church, on baseball fields, at dances, and even more when they intermarried. Their decades of social and cultural interaction and their shared experiences with discrimination, led this community in the late 1960s to create the Latin American Council and participate in the federal Model Cities program. This moment of unity was also ii marked by tension rooted in the complexity of Latino identity that rested on the varying intersections of ethnicity, class, and generation. While some community activists quarreled, others worked together within the Latin American Council to provide social services and cultural programming, greatly improving the quality of life in Grand Rapids. Other activists worked closely with African Americans to change the City of Grand Rapids’ hiring requirements and to pursue community control over policing of Black and brown communities. As Latinos continue to grow in number and diversity, this dissertation serves as a model to understand how Latinos developed interethnic solidarities and intimate social relations that often served as the precursor to working towards collective goals. iii Dedication For Porfirio and Juanita Murillo, Pío and Luisa Fernández, and sus compadres, comadres, compais, y comais who took a chance on Grand Rapids in hopes of finding better lives for themselves and for their families. iv Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without various sources of support. I am especially thankful to Grand Valley State University for maintaining their McNair Scholars Program in the face of constant threats to cut the program. McNair is a federally funded program to increase the number doctorate degrees awarded to students from underrepresented segments of society. This program changed my life. I am extremely grateful to Dolli Lutes and David Stark who instilled in me the confidence I needed to apply, attend, and finish graduate school. TRiO works. I am thankful for the funding I have received to complete this project. Ohio State’s History department, the Council of Graduate Students, the Tinker Foundation, the Coca Cola Grant for Critical Difference for Women, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) supplied me with funds for research and conference travel so that I could share my work and grow as a scholar. It was a pleasure working closely with Yolanda Zepeda in ODI who created opportunities for me and was sure to put a smile on my face. Thank you to the Latino Studies Program at Ohio State University for giving me an intellectual home. Theresa Delgadillo has been extremely helpful and thoughtful throughout my graduate school journey. I am so thankful for her mentoring and the time v and energy she has spent on me. I must also thank the Multicultural Center and Indra Leyva for their work in helping students of color feel safe and important at Ohio State. I will never be able to repay Lilia Fernández for what she has done for me. I am extremely fortunate to have her as my mentor. She has guided me with patience and understanding throughout this journey. Dr. Fernández is the epitome of what an advisor should be. It is has been a great honor to be her graduate student. I also thank Judy Wu for her encouragement throughout these past years and her time in reading and commenting on every chapter of this dissertation. Her writing group kept me on track to finish this project in a timely manner and provided me with invaluable feedback. Thank you to Kevin Boyle for his guidance and for encouraging me to continue on with this project when I worried no one would care about Latinos in Grand Rapids. This project would also not have been possible without the help of knowledgeable and patient archivists. I am indebted to the staff at Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library and Archives for making Centro feel like home while I was in New York. I am very fortunate to have met Bill Cunningham at the Grand Rapids City Archive. From the first time I walked into the archives in 2011, Bill welcomed me and found creative ways to help me document the earliest Spanish-speaking populations in Grand Rapids. His more than 30 years of service to the City of Grand Rapids puts him in a league of his own. Thank you to Tim Gleisner and the staff at the Grand Rapids Public Library for greeting me with smiling faces and helpful answers as I poured through their valuable documents. I also owe a special thanks to Matthew Daley, who I always seemed vi to run into at the Grand Rapids Public Library. Thank you for all your tips and suggestions for bringing this project into fruition. I would be remiss not to mention the oral history participants, without whom, this project could not have existed. These people had the courage to open their homes to me and reveal intimate, sometimes painful, memories of their journeys and experiences in Grand Rapids. I admire their bravery and their resolve. For those reasons I dedicated this work to them. Thank you to Pete and Cruzita Gómez, Simon and Irma Aguilar, María Ysasi, Maurelia Blakely, Juan Báez, Carolina Báez-Anderson, Abrán Martínez, Rosa Perez, Carmen Bérrios, Miguel Bérrios, Rafael Hernández, Luz María Zambrana, Father Theodore Kozlowski, Zoraida Sánchez, Lea Tobar, José Flores, Pablo Martínez, Richard Campos, and Billy Tappin. It was an honor to record your stories. I hope this work does justice to your experiences. Dissertating can be an isolating experience, but I have had the best of friends to keep me company on this long journey. I am especially thankful to the women of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/ Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority Inc. The Hermanas of SLU have supported me from the application process to the present. Thank you to Mariana Saucedo, the soon-to-be Dr. Andrea Gómez-Cervantes, and Madeline Aguillón for their phone calls, impromptu road trips to Columbus, and reassuring words when I needed them the most. I also owe special thanks to my many sorority sisters around the country who, during my research trips, housed and fed me, drove me to the airport at inopportune times, taught me how to use the NYC subway, and who believed in me and encouraged me to finish. vii This journey would have been incredibly lonely if it were not for my friends within the OSU history department. Thank you to Patrick Potyondy, Adrienne Winans, and Peggy Solic for helping me transition to graduate school and our numerous study sessions. Leticia Wiggins has been the best travel partner. I am so happy that we had the opportunity to leave Dulles Hall and explore Puerto Rico, San Antonio, and St. Louis together. I owe a many thanks to Dr. Tyran Steward, Dawn Miles, Gisell Jeter-Bennett, and Dr. Robert Bennett III for making me feel comfortable and welcomed in Columbus and in the History Department. The Latin@ Graduate/Professional Student Association a.k.a. the Graduate Association of Latin@/Latin Americans has been my home base since I walked onto campus. A very special thanks goes to Dr. Danielle Olden who served as my History Guru and opened so many doors for me because she firmly believes in “Each One Teach One.” I am very happy to have met Dr. Eva Pietri and Dr. Gilianne Narcisse during my time with LGPSA. Thank you to Marisol Becerra for all the baked goods and conversations. I could write pages of thank you’s to Dr. Tiffany Lewis and Dr. Yalidy Matos. Thank you for providing me with a safe place to be myself in graduate school. I look forward to creating so many more memories with you both. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Desmond Bourgeois and Daniel Leyva for the laughs and support. I am also grateful for the support I received from afar from Kelsey Calpito, Laura Mosely, and their families. Lastly, I thank my family for helping me reach this point. Thank you to the Fernández and Murillo families for always believing in me. Special thanks are owed to viii my Titi Carmen Delia Fernández for showing me how to become a professional, educated Latina. Thank you to my sister Dr. Lucy L.
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