SPRING SPEAKER SERIES AT UH CLEARS THE
AIR AROUND ‘SMELTERTOWN, TEXAS’
The University of Houston Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS)
presents a discussion about a working class, Mexican American community
growing in the shadow of an El Paso smelting plant. “Smeltertown,
Texas: Photography, Gender and the Making of a Mexican American
Working Community” will be presented at 2:30 p.m., Thursday,
March 31, at the UH Hilton Hotel. Monica Perales, history professor
and CMAS Visiting Scholar, will lead the discussion.
The event is free and opened to the public. Refreshments will be
served.
Perales uses historical records and archival photographs to sketch
an image of a town that grew with the flourishing of a smelter plant
and then disappeared with the demise of the business.
“Even though this was one of El Paso’s largest ethnic
Mexican communities at the turn of the 20th century, Smeltertown
is largely absent from historical records,” said Perales.
“I’ve had to piece together the history of this important
community.”
Her talk is part of a larger field of study that examines the creation,
evolution and demise of the working community of Smeltertown.
“This struggling, working class Latino community forged
its own institutions, culture, family ties,” Tatchto Mindiola,
director of CMAS said. “It overcame tremendous odds, and anyone
interested in working class communities will not want to miss this.”
The event is part of the CMAS Spring Speaker Series.
WHAT: |
Smeltertown, Texas: Photography, Gender and the
Making of a Mexican American Working Community, featuring Monica
Perales, Visiting Scholar UH Center for Mexican American Studies
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WHEN: |
2:30 p.m., Thursday, March 31 |
WHERE: |
UH Hilton Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Room. For directions and
parking information, please visit http://www.uh.edu/campus_map/buildings/CHC.html |
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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