The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 242
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Hzstorical Quarterly
In part, Deutsch's work is a study of the Anglo-Hispanic southwest-
ern frontier from 1880-1940. In a broader sense, "At its heart lies the
dynamic of intercultural relations" between Hispanics and Anglos,
their interactions with each other, the changing nature of these rela-
tionships "across time and space," and "the essential role gender plays
in that dynamic" (p. 3). Deutsch also attempts to place Hispanic-
Chicano migratory patterns and experience in the Southwest within
the larger context of national immigrant studies and postulates that
"the shift of Chicanos between their own cultural areas . . . mirrored
the European immigrant experience in its shifts back and forth across
the Atlantic" (p. 4).
This is more than a study, however, of intercultural relationships in a
relatively small geographic area of the Southwest (primarily northern
New Mexico and southern and northern Colorado). It is also a study in
community history, a unique regional community to be sure, but none-
theless one that, over time and under constantly changing pressures
from both without and within, still developed strategies for change and
adaptation that allowed a basic communal village structure not only to
survive but to expand beyond its origins in an isolated section of north-
ern New Mexico into the railroad and mining camps and towns of
southern Colorado and the sugar beet fields of northern Colorado.
The main body of the text is divided into two parts. The first four
chapters focus on the period from 188o to World War I and discuss the
various political, economic, and social strategies for community sur-
vival worked out by northern New Mexico's Hispanics as the coming of
the railroad and increasing numbers of Anglo immigrants threatened
to envelop and eventually overwhelm traditional values and commu-
nity structures. But rather than disappearing, the regional community
adapted to change and expanded, albeit in somewhat altered form,
into adjacent areas, principally in southern Colorado. The final three
chapters discuss the impact of World War I and new Mexican migra-
tion on the Hispanic community, the development of new Hispanic-
Chicano enclaves in northern Colorado during the 192os, and the
effects of the depression and government intervention.
Deutsch's impressive documentation includes not only traditional
historical sources, oral histories, and personal interviews but also draws
on pertinent studies in sociology, anthropology, political science, and
other disciplines. The only serious problem is the lack of adequate
maps. Given the importance of place, space, and region throughout the
study, the publishers did a great disservice to readers and the author by
providing only one very poorly designed map.
One may not always agree with Deutsch's interpretations and con-
clusions, but this is nonetheless an important book that merits the at-242
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990, periodical, 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101213/m1/282/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.