California’s Cross: A Cultural History of Pentecostalism, Race, and Agriculture by Lloyd D. Barba A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (American Culture) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Assistant Professor Daniel Ramírez, Chair Professor Edward J. Blum, San Diego State University Professor Philip J. Deloria Professor Silvia Pedraza © Lloyd D. Barba 2016 For Francisco R. Barba ii Acknowledgements California’s Cross is a historical inquiry influenced by wonderful people on the journey of writing this dissertation. While many of my closest family and friends imagined me cloistered away and writing feverishly in a cubicle, the reality is that California’s Cross allowed me to meet and share ideas with some of the most collegial and intentional people I have ever crossed paths with. Many of the individuals acknowledged below do not know each other, but even as strangers to one another they have collectively impacted my work. In Georg Simmels’ sense of the term, as a “stranger” you are not one who came today and left tomorrow, but you are one who came today and stayed for tomorrow, be it in support of my work or in ideas I have carried with me. I am indebted to you all for the fruition of this dissertation. This is intended to be the start for a much larger manuscript and archival project. May you stay for what tomorrow brings. The journey of California’s Cross began as a senior capstone paper guided by William Swagerty at the University of the Pacific. Thanks to care of three professors I reached that point in the first place. As a first-generation college student, I was placed under the mentorship of the late Caroline Cox, a professor whose excellence in teaching and mentorship to this day inspires me to become a suspenseful (she ended class with the best cliff hangers!) and thought-provoking (and those cliff hangers made you question everything!) lecturer. Two influential mentors came along the way. Alan Lenzi and Carrie Schroder piqued my interest in the academic study of religion and provided the kind of mentorship that every undergrad could only wish to have. I caught the contagion of archive fever from archivist Michael Wurtz and learned valuable archival sleuthing skills that I would later use extensively in the crafting of California’s Cross. iii I took the next major step into this journey of inquiry when I matriculated into the University of Michigan’s Program (now Department) of American Culture along with a wonderful cohort. Garrett Felber, Katie Lennard, Jasmine Kramer, Jenny Kwak, and Eric Shih all came in with vastly different topics, but with a strong sense of solidarity. Jasmine’s inquiry into the affect and material culture of Chicana/o religion provided an important sounding board for my work. I am also appreciative of the broader intellectual community of fellow students, many whom are now on wonderful career trajectories: Yamil Avivi, Frank Kelderman, Natalie Lira, Alex Olson (he was pretty much the godfather), Cavar Reid, and Joo Young Lee. A special thanks goes out to fellow Latina/o Studies scholar, Hannah Noel, for your invaluable collegiality. I often wonder how much I could have accomplished without the late night lucubrations that Jared Kane and Amir Maghsoodi endured with me. Sometime we learn best as teachers; I began to think critically about material culture in the American West alongside two indefatigable Graduate Student Instructors and fellow Cream Puff (total misnomer!) conquerors: Carolyn Dekker and Jen Peacock. Deep in heart of the West, whether hoping to spot rare ‘aminals’ or discussing the sublimity of nature, Gregg Crane and Philip Deloria inspired us all us all live life deliberately. Other times, we learn best under great professors. In addition to my dissertation committee members, Kristin Hass, Mary Kelley, Colin Gunkel, and Matthew Countryman saw early drafts of California’s Cross chapters in graduate seminars. Others, such as Greg Dowd have extended strong support. Behind the scenes every step of the way was the unrivaled Marlene Moore, the secret to each graduate student’s success. The Rackham Graduate School and Department of American Culture sponsored me to attended numerous academic conferences and seminars, and provided the means to establish important, lasting connections. I am especially thankful to those who have provided wonderful iv feedback or have asked me to share California’s Cross at various venues: Sammy Alfaro, Debbie Behro, Jeffery Brickle, Morgan “Ted” Cassady, Priscilla Cortez, Roy Fisher, Felipe Hinojosa, Andrea Johnson, Luis Leon, Nestor Medina, A.G. Miller, Leah Payne, and Donald Whitt III. The Young Scholars Symposium hosted by the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame provided a timely platform to workshop key concepts in California’s Cross, so I especially wish to thank Davíd Carrasco, Luis Fraga, Mireya Loza, Timothy Matovina, Pedro Morales, and Aida Ramos. Over the past two years I have had the privilege to share my work with colleagues affiliated with la Red de Investigadores del Fenómemo Religioso en México. Carlos Garma and Patricia Fortuny Loret de la Mola welcomed the panel of Chicanos. Daniel Ramírez invited Felipe Agredano, Erica Ramirez, and me to present our work alongside his own. The friendship that formed through hours and days of conversations with Erica and Felipe about all things Pentecostal is invaluable. I could not have foreseen so early into the journey that writing the dissertation would lead to a greater public history project: the founding of the first-ever interdenominational Latino Pentecostal archival collection. Under the direction of Daniel Ramírez, I worked with a creative team to process massive collections donated to the David Allan Hubbard Library at Fuller Theological Seminary. I am especially appreciative for the Manuel Gaxiola, Manuel Vizcarra, and Egla Montero families, who graciously entrusted us with materials now available for study. Archivist Adam Gossman offered the necessary support to bring the dusty records to life. Felipe Agredano, Claudia Rosales, and Abraham Ruiz played critical roles in processing the collections. Milca Montañez-Vizcarra’s unwavering dedication to the project helped bring this vision to fruition. Shortly after the archival work at Fuller, I would continue the quest to track down materials at various collections. A few key individuals facilitated this process: Mary Sholler at v the Madera County Archives, Ismael Martin Del Campo II and Ismael Martin Del Campo III at the Apostolic Assembly of Faith in Christ Jesus headquarter, Robin Johnston at the Center for the Study of Oneness Pentecostalism, the supportive staff at the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, and Kathleen Schmelling at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. My interviewees provided copies of material and leads essential to many of the chapters. I cannot say thank you enough to Concepción Ares, Manuel Perez, Marta Bracamontes, Howard Davis, Edna Frances, Eugeina Manzano, Aniceto and Maria Ortiz, Gladine Newton, Demetrio Ramirez, Gilbert Samano, and Donna Siebold. Herminia “Minnie” Martinez’s search for public records on the early histories of Pentecostals leaders and churches has yielded priceless historical documents. I would also like to thank Jerry Powell for sharing his insight into California Pentecostalism caught in a transitional moment in the 1960s. Manuel Ares graciously provided me with historical materials and offered critical interpretations of Pentecostal history. I truly value our friendship that emerged over numerous lunches at Yen Du in Stockton, CA. An outstanding dissertation committee guided me throughout all this. The actual writing of California’s Cross is only part of the story of how my committee members impacted my intellectual projects. From day one on campus Silvia Pedraza was committed to my success in the program. I quickly knew that her expertise on immigration and ethnicity would be a necessary component of my study, as the larger stories of migration and negotiation of identity became ideas I latched on to. She waited patiently as I entertained various specific dissertation topics and ultimately settled on Callifornia’s Cross. I could not have asked for a better conclusion to my first year of study: when I signed up to serve as a Graduate Student Instructor for Philip Deloria’s three-week course at a field station near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I did not know that I would be in for the best teaching experience of my life and pick up important vi conceptual tools of cultural studies from Phil’s toolkit. He challenges me with questions that stretched my mind in ways I did not know it could be stretched (it’s quite elastic now). I’ll never forget the important discussions about representations, symbols, wilderness/wildness, and Prownian Analysis, as I hope he never forgets the inexhaustible currency of the ‘launch meat" joke. As I began to draft early drafts of Mexican and Okie migrations, another fortuitous mentorship took place when I presented my work at a conference on Religion in California at UC Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union. Edward J. Blum served as the moderator for my panel. Ed’s questions made clearer to me the potential of my archival sources. The more I wrote about the topic and began to engage with questions about race and religion, the more apparent it became that the overall dissertation would benefit from his expertise. In the acknowledgments of his recent book, Migrating Faith, Daniel Ramírez noted that if he could be half of the mentor that Grant Wacker was to him, that he would have accomplished a great thing. To say that Dan accomplished a great thing is a huge understatement. Dan’s unwavering support and sustained guidance every step of the way (be it the numerous seminars and dozens of conferences, prelims, and the Latino Pentecostal archive project) have brought out the best in my overall work.