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Mujeres Latinas Oral History Project

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0822

  • Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories collection dates from 2003 to 2017 and measures 2.5 linear feet. The collection consists of 120 oral history interviews recorded on audiocassette tapes, along with transcriptions and associated materials such as biographical information, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The narrators reflect on childhood, education, and work as well as family and cultural traditions. The interviews span the twentieth century, encompassing topics such migration to Iowa, life in Iowa’s Mexican settlements, the contributions of Mexican Americans to World War II, the rights of agricultural laborers in Iowa and California, and the formation of Iowa’s first councils of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The interviews were recorded in a variety of locations across Iowa from Mason City in the north to Fort Madison in the south and are organized alphabetically by town and then by narrator. The Quad Cities, comprising Davenport and Bettendorf on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River and Rock Island and East Moline on the Illinois side, is treated as a single location. Most of the interviews were conducted in English with thirty interviews conducted in Spanish.

The interviews were transcribed by University of Iowa students employed as student assistants in the IWA: Melissa Alfaro, Kate Donovan, Ambar de Kok-Mercado, Monse Gutierrez, Lupita Larios, Maritza Lopez-Campos, Zayetzy Luna Garcia, Jessica Merma, Shirley Ratliff, Ana Rodriguez, Hannah Schultz, Andrea Simental, Janet Torres.

Dates

  • Creation: 2003-2017

Conditions Governing Access

The oral histories are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the narrators has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

The Mujeres Latinas Project was started by the Iowa Women’s Archives in 2005 to preserve the history of Iowa Latinas, their families, and organizations. Oral history interviews formed a major component of the project, which was supported by grants from the State Historical Society of Iowa's Resource Enhancement and Protection--Historical Resource Development Program, the State Historical Society, Inc., the University of Iowa Libraries, and the University of Iowa's Year of Public Engagement and Year of the Arts and Humanities. The bulk of the interviews were recorded between 2005 and 2008 by part-time oral history interviewers Georgina Buendía Cruz, Teresa García, and Iskra Nuñez, UI librarian Rachel Garza Carreόn, and Kären Mason and Janet Weaver from the IWA.

Extent

2.50 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral histories with Latino women and family members conducted by the staff of the Iowa Women's Archives through its Mujeres Latinas project.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The oral histories were conducteed beginning in 2003 with various donors.

Title
Mujeres Latinas Oral History Project
Author
Janet Weaver
Date
2021
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)