Serving the Nation: Rotary and Lions Clubs, the Mexican Middle Classes, and the Post-Revolutionary State, 1920s-1960s By David Tamayo A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Margaret Chowning, Chair Professor Brian DeLay Professor Gabriela Soto-Laveaga Professor Alex Saragoza Summer 2018 Serving the Nation: Rotary and Lions Clubs, the Mexican Middle Classes, and the Post-Revolutionary State, 1920s-1960s © David Tamayo All rights reserved, 2018 ABSTRACT Serving the Nation: Rotary and Lions Clubs, the Mexican Middle Classes, and the Post-Revolutionary State, 1920s-1960s by David Tamayo Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Margaret Chowning, Chair This dissertation studies the relationship between the Mexican conservative middle classes and the post-revolutionary state from the 1920s to the 1960s. It approaches this topic through the prism of U.S.-founded businessmen's philanthropic associations, known as international "service clubs," such as the Lions and Rotary. Beginning in the 1920s, when the first Rotary Club was established in Mexico, men and their female relatives were drawn to them because they associated Rotary and Lions clubs with "modern," cosmopolitan values. By mid- century, tens of thousands of Mexicans were members of these international clubs. During Mexico's unprecedented period of economic growth, known as the "Mexican Miracle," service clubs became a facet of urban life, hosting weekly luncheons, dinners, business seminars, and charitable fundraisers. Over time, however, Rotary, Lions, and other clubs also became sites of conservative political activism. Scholars have mainly examined middle-class conservatism in Mexico through formal political parties, such as the Nation Action Party (PAN), or the Catholic Church, suggesting that these two institutions offered the only outlets for conservative politics under the post- revolutionary state. This interpretation, however, posits a reactionary and institutionally-narrow view of the middle classes. It also underestimates the transnational circulation of conservative ideas, and ignores the range of ways in which the middle classes participated in politics. This dissertation approaches the question middle-class politicization by examining the U.S.-founded service clubs they populated. "Serving the Nation" addresses three overarching questions. First, how did the Mexican middle classes independent from government-sanctioned organizations engage with the hegemonic-party state throughout the 20th century? Second, how did conservative politics develop outside of formal opposition parties and the Catholic Church? Third, what influence did U.S. international civic organizations have in the politicization of the middle classes? Based primarily on the internal files and publications of Lions, Rotary, and other clubs in Mexico, this study argues that the self-described middle classes were drawn to these businessmen's organizations and, after joining, they modified club ideology to advance a conservative political agenda and their cultural interests. By providing a crucial ideological and organizational 1 framework, service clubs became instrumental in the politicization of the conservative middle classes. Without an effective middle-class organization, such as there were for workers and peasants, service clubs afforded the middle classes an independent vehicle to interact with the post-revolutionary state. Finally, this story also has implications for understanding the role of US non-state actors in foreign contexts. "Serving the Nation" challenges the notion that US- based service clubs were successful instruments of American cultural and economic imperialism. 2 A mis padres y Enrique A Michiko y Diego i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract................................................................................................................................1 Dedication.............................................................................................................................i List of Figures.....................................................................................................................iii List of Tables......................................................................................................................iv Introduction..........................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements............................................................................................................xx Chapter 1: The "Middle-Class Impulse" and the Establishment of U.S.-Service Clubs in Mexico, 1920-1935...................................................1 Chapter 2: Leonismo Mexicano: Lions Clubs, the Mexican State, and the Future of Service Clubs in Latin America, 1930-1945.......................32 Chapter 3: Becoming Sowers of Friendship: The Rotary Club of Monterrey and the Cardenista State..................................................................................63 Chapter 4: Service Clubs and the Crusades for Mexico, 1940s-1950s.............................91 Chapter 5: Service Clubs, Anti-Communism, and the Politics of Education: the Cases in 1960s Puebla and Monterrey....................................................128 Epilogue...........................................................................................................................167 Bibliography....................................................................................................................170 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1 Francisco Doria Paz entertaining party guests...........................................vii 2 Francisco Doria Paz and his wife Ada Carrasco leading a conga line...........................................................viii 3 Public toilet stalls: The Rotary Club of Chicago's first public service project in 1907...........................................................xiv 4 The "Pullman City" advertisement............................................................24 5 First delegation of Lions from Mexico, 1934............................................50 6 Manuel Ávila Camacho during the "National Unity" speech....................59 7 Graduation ceremony at the Hospital Muguerza, circa 1950s...................66 8 Sowers of Friendship Club emblem...........................................................85 9 Members of the Rotary Club of Puebla at Father Teyssier's all-girls school, ca. 1944............................................96 10 Sowers of Friendship and maestras misioneras with their students in the Barrio Xanenetla in Puebla, ca. 1946...............98 11 The Sowers of Friendship's maestras misioneras teaching a lesson in the Barrio de San Antonio in Puebla.......................................99 12 Casino of the Lions Club of Monterrey in 1957......................................113 13 Sowers of Friendship Club of Mazatlán's "Dantesco Torneo de Cerveza"................................114 14 Cover of the magazine Vea, 1954............................................................117 15 Queen of the Lions Club of Mexico City.................................................126 16 Tito Guízar entertaining the Cuban delegation during their visit to the Mexico City Lions Club in 1959.......................137 17 Jaime Torres Bodet distributing textbooks to grade-school children, ca. 1961..........................................148 18 Jaime Torres Bodet as the guest of the Sowers of Friendship Club of Mexico City.......................................151 19 Editorial cartoon lampooning the 1962 conflict between Torres Bodet and the Monterrey parents...................................161 iii LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 1 Rotary Clubs in Latin America, 1921 – 1935............................................xv 2 Service Club growth in Mexico, 1921 – 1974.........................................xvii 3 Occupational distribution of Lions and Rotary Clubs in Mexico, 1920s – 1930s..................................16 4 Rotary International net club growth, 1938 – 1943...................................35 5 Global distribution of Lions Clubs International, 1949.............................36 6 Occupational distribution of Rotary and Lions Clubs of Monterrey, 1920s-30s................................................73 iv INTRODUCTION In a 1950 letter addressed to the some two hundred Lions Clubs in Mexico, the president of the Mexican association, Francisco Doria Paz, commended his fellow leones for their exemplary work in propagating "Lionism." Since 1933, when Lions International was permanently established in Mexico, the organization had expanded remarkably, attracting businessmen, professionals, industrialists, and even politicians for the stated purpose of unselfishly serving their communities. Doria Paz now encouraged club members to continue their "apostleship work," gathering individuals who were best suited to instill "cooperation among Mexico's social groups," by which he meant to promote harmonious relations between workers and employers— an objective shared by Lions, Rotary, and other US-imported service clubs in Mexico.1 Born in 1906, Doria Paz was raised in comfortable style—he was the grandson of a governor and military hero—in the country's emerging powerhouse of heavy industry, Monterrey, 80 miles