University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2010-01-01 Border Physician: The Life Of Lawrence A. Nixon, 1883-1966 Will Guzmán University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Guzmán, Will, "Border Physician: The Life Of Lawrence A. Nixon, 1883-1966" (2010). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 2495. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/2495 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]. BORDER PHYSICIAN: THE LIFE OF LAWRENCE A. NIXON, 1883-1966 By Will Guzmán, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Department of History APPROVED ____________________________________ Maceo C. Dailey, Ph.D., Chair ____________________________________ Charles H. Ambler, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Jeffrey P. Shepherd, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Gregory Rocha, Ph.D. ____________________________________ Amilcar Shabazz, Ph.D. Patricia D. Witherspoon, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School UMI Number: XXXXXXX Copyright December 2010 by Guzmán, Will All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform XXXXXXX Copyright 2010 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 DEDICATION PAGE To my mother Norma Torres and my grandmother Emilia Burgos (1917-2003): Thank you for teaching me to be proud of my African roots and Puerto Rican heritage. In honor of the 100 million Ancestors who perished during the African Holocaust between 1441 and 1888. The largest forced migration the world has ever known. Stolen from West Africa as an act of war, against their will, and brought in chains to foreign and distant lands. Debased, Defiled, and Detested; compelled to engage in homicides, suicides, and infanticides. The world may have forgotten this crime against Humanity, but I cannot. To Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon: Thank you for living a dignified life of activism. Para mi mama Norma Torres y mi abuelita Emilia Burgos (1917-2003): Gracias por enseñarme a ser orgulloso de mis raíces Africanas y mis patrimonio Puertorriqueño. En honor al 100 millones de Antepasados que pereció durante el Holocausto Africano (1441 a 1888). La mas grande migración forzosa que el mundo haya conocido. Robados de Oeste África de un acto de guerra, contra su voluntad, y llevado en cadenas a tierras extrañas y lejanas. Degradado, Detestaba y forzado a participar en homicidios, suicidios, y infanticidios. El mundo puede haber olvidado este crimen contra la humanidad, pero yo no puedo. Para Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon: Gracias por viviendo una vida digna de activismo. BORDER PHYSICIAN: THE LIFE OF LAWRENCE A. NIXON, 1883-1966 By WILL GUZMÁN, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. 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 2010 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing this dissertation has been both a group and solitary effort. I thank the Chair of my committee, Maceo Dailey for his assistance in the completion of this project. In the fall of 1999 he encouraged I enter UTEP’s newly created Ph.D. program in Borderlands History. It was at this time he suggested the life of Lawrence A. Nixon as a possible dissertation topic. I am indebted to Maceo for this idea, his patience, words of advice, and gentle criticisms over the years. Too, I am grateful to committee members Charles Ambler (especially for his editorial skills, time, confidence in my ability, financial assistance, and perhaps most importantly, his support of my return back into the program after a 3-year hiatus), Jeffrey Shepherd (particularly our talks on race and politics; and for assistance with the Borderlands portfolio), and Greg Rocha and Amilcar Shabazz (UMASS-Amherst) for their time, suggestions, comments, and insights. UTEP professors who were also invaluable to my intellectual growth include Emma Pérez, Cheryl Martin (who assisted me w/the Borderlands Preliminary Exam), Yolanda Chávez Leyva (who helped me with the Borderlands Portfolio, Nixon historical marker, and the Spanish Language Exam), Charles Martin, Sam Brunk, and Sandra McGee Deutsch (who exposed me to the work of Bill Moyers). UTEP’s Graduate School, College of Liberal Arts, and the History Department provided much needed financial support at critical junctures over the years. The Nixon clan—chiefly Edna McIver (Dr. L.A. Nixon’s daughter) and her husband Dr. William McIver, and Lawrence A. Walker (Dr. Nixon’s nephew)—gave me their blessing and opened up their homes allowing me access to family lore, photos, and records. The staff at the Library of Congress; Eric Head at the Knox County Archives in Tennessee; Damani Davis at the National Archives; Clifford Muse at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University; the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin; Emily Hobson at the Marshall Public Library; Ruth Briggs at the Harrison County Historical Society; Lauren Sapp, Priscilla Henry, and Elaine McCreary at FAMU’s Coleman Library; Beverly Speight at FSU’s Strozier Library; Kristine Navarro at UTEP’s Institute for Oral History; Juan Sandoval, Laura Hollingsed, and Claudia Rivers at UTEP’s Library and C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections; Claudia M. Ramirez at the El Paso Public Library; John Fahey at UTEP’s LACIT; and Pat Worthington at the El Paso Historical Society were all very helpful and instrumental. El Paso authors Mike Juarez and David Romo, activist Molly Shapiro, El Pasoan Warren Brown, and researcher Charlotte Ivy provided precious materials and leads. UTEP graduate-student cohorts who created v an intellectually rigorous and supportive environment include Julia María Schiavone-Camacho (¡Terminé por fin!), Michael de la Garza, Peter Viola, Jorge H. Jimenez, Juan Mendoza Guerrero, John Paul Nuno, Cristóbal Borges, Antonio López, Dan Márquez, and Selfa Chew. My former students at FAMU and future scholars who assisted with researching and data gathering included Janay Austin, Michael Ayala, Carol Hill, and Lashayle Dodson. Consuelo Hughes and David Wharton (who exposed me to the African Blood Brotherhood) were instrumental as I matriculated at Valencia Community College. At Florida State University, Victoria-María MacDonald, Angela Hall, Samiri Hernández Hiraldo, Jeffrey Lowe, Na’im Akbar (Enyimnyam XII), Darrell Levi (who gave me numerous books on Caribbean history), and William “Bill” R. Jones (who exposed me to Secular Humanism) gave essential encouragement. Learning and teaching the experiences and history of the oppressed has been a poignant and personal journey; through his actions Bill Jones taught me to not be afraid of displaying emotions in the classroom. At Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), David Jackson—Chair of the History and African American Studies Department—not only hired me as an Adjunct Instructor and later promoted me to Visiting Assistant Professor, but also arranged my teaching schedule to compliment my research agenda. As a comrade in the struggle David and I have honored the memory of the ancestors—who have protected, guided, and honored my hopes—by taking spiritual pilgrimages to The Door of No Return at both the African Burial Ground [Mannahatta] and the dungeons in Elmina/Cape Coast [Gaana]; the pyramids at Giza [Kemet]; and the first island [Quisqueya] where ‘New World’ Africans were taken in chains, against their will. E. Murrell Dawson has been phenomenal since my first days on campus, giving much of her editorial talents, energy, and esteem. Her and David’s constant cheer of my educational ends has been amazing. Special recognition goes to Zaccai Free, Sarita Taylor, Olawale Olatunji, Corey Johnson, Chandra, and the many other students involved in the 1996 FAMU campus protest…lest we forget! James Eaton, Yvonne Bell, Kobi Kambon, Barbara Cotton, Titus Brown (who introduced me to the value of NPR), Carolyn Cummings, Stephen Angell, Sylvester Cohen (who exposed me to the writings of Noam Chomsky), Attorney Robert Williams, Larry Rivers, Theodore Hemmingway, and former President Frederick Humphries (who rescinded my one-year suspension for participating in the FAMU ’96 campus student protest) were all key professors and mentors. vi There have been many comrades who have sustained and nurtured me, as well as insistent I complete this terminal degree. They include Llena Caldwell, Marilyn Davis, Juan Lebron, Bassam Mnayarji, Bernardo Rodriguez Vidal, Talibah Ya-Ya Marin-Coleman, Tameka Bradley-Hobbs, Shawna