Table of Contents
Preface ...... vii How to Use This Book ...... xi Research Topics for Defining Moments: The Zoot Suit Riots ...... xiii
NARRATIVE OVERVIEW Prologue ...... 3 Chapter One:Caught in the Currents of Empire and Conquest ...... 7 Chapter Two: Rising Tensions in California ...... 25 Chapter Three: A City on Edge ...... 43 Chapter Four: The Trial of the 38th Street Boys ...... 59 Chapter Five: The Zoot Suit Riots ...... 75 Chapter Six: Release from Prison ...... 91 Chapter Seven: Legacy of the Zoot Suit Riots ...... 107
BIOGRAPHIES Fletcher Bowron (1887-1968) ...... 125 Mayor of Los Angeles during the Sleepy Lagoon Trial and Zoot Suit Riots José Díaz (1919-1942) ...... 128 Mexican Farm Worker Whose Murder Resulted in the Sleepy Lagoon Trial Charles William Fricke (1882-1958) ...... 131 Judge Who Presided over the 1943 Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial Alice Greenfield (1917-2009) ...... 134 Civil Rights Activist and Member of the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee
v
Defining Moments: The Zoot Suit Riots
Henry “Hank” Leyvas (1923-1971) ...... 137 Mexican-American Defendant in the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) ...... 141 American Journalist and Attorney Who Headed the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee Edward Roybal (1916-2005) ...... 145 First Hispanic-American Member of the Los Angeles City Council and Longtime U.S. Representative George Shibley (1910-1989) ...... 148 Defense Attorney in the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial
PRIMARY SOURCES Anglo Squatters Swarm Mexican-Owned Haciendas in California ...... 153 Examples of Anti-Mexican Discrimination in 1930s America ...... 156 Depression-Era Los Angeles Targets Mexicans for Repatriation ...... 161 A Los Angeles Police Officer Issues a Racist Report on the Mexican “Element” ...... 164 Courtroom Clashes between Fricke and Shibley ...... 168 Trying to Survive the Zoot Suit Riots ...... 173 Mexican-American Activists Assess the Causes of the Zoot Suit Riots . . .174 The Los Angeles Times Attacks Eleanor Roosevelt’s Stance on the Riots . .177 New Hispanic Hopes and Dreams in the Post-World War II Era ...... 180 From the Barrio to a German POW Camp—and Back ...... 185 A Landmark Legal Decision for Mexican Americans ...... 188 Honoring the Heritage and Contributions of Hispanic Americans ...... 193
Important People, Places, and Terms ...... 195 Chronology ...... 199 Sources for Further Study ...... 203 Bibliography ...... 205 Photo and Illustration Credits ...... 207 Index ...... 209 vi