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East Oregonian
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Saturday, October 20, 2018
FORGOTTEN HISTORY
U.S. lacks Latino
historical sites and
landmarks, scholars say
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Associated Press
G
LORIETA
PASS,
N.M. — A makeshift
memorial to Hispanic
Civil War Union
soldiers in an isolated part of
northern New Mexico is a
typical representation of sites
linked to U.S. Latino history:
It’s shabby, largely unknown
and at risk of disappearing.
Across the U.S, many sites
historically connected to key
moments in Latino civil rights
lie forgotten, decaying or endan-
ger of quietly dissolving into the
past without acknowledgment.
Scholars and advocates say a
lack of preservation, resistance
to recognition and even natural
disasters make it hard for sites to
gain traction among the general
public, which affects how Amer-
icans see Latinos in U.S. history.
The birthplace of farmworker
union leader Cesar Chavez sits
abandoned in Yuma, Arizona.
The Corpus Christi, Texas,
office of Dr. Hector P. Gar-
cia, where the Mexican-Amer-
ican civil rights movement was
sparked, is gone. And no mark-
ers exist where pioneering edu-
cator George I. Sanchez captured
images of New Mexico poverty
for his 1940 groundbreaking
book “Forgotten People.”
“People need to see history,
they need to touch it, they need
to feel it, they need to experi-
ence it,” said Maggie Rivas-Ro-
driguez, a journalism professor
at the University of Texas who
has worked to preserve Latino
historical sites. “When some-
thing is preserved, it’s a daily
reminder of our history.”
Many states have histori-
cal markers and sites dedicated
to Latino history but they usu-
ally center around the Spanish
exploration era, colonial times
and Old West settlement peri-
ods, scholars and advocates say.
Those are “safe” sites because
they downplay the racism and
segregation Latinos had to over-
come, said Luis Sandoval, a
nonprofit consultant in Yuma
who is pushing for the region to
honor Chavez’ legacy.
As the nation’s Latino pop-
ulation grows, local tourism
groups and the National Park
Service in recent years have
responded.
In 2012, the National Park
Foundation’s American Latino
Heritage Fund launched a cam-
paign to improve the represen-
tation of Hispanics in national
parks. The National Park Ser-
vice also convened an “Amer-
ican Latino Scholars Expert
Panel” made of members like
Rivas-Rodriguez and Yale his-
tory professor Stephen J. Pitti.
Before leaving office, former
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Sally Jewell announced that four
Latino national landmarks were
among the 24 new National His-
toric Landmarks. Chicano Park
— a collection of murals under a
San Diego highway that became
AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka, File
The grave of Chicano farmworker leader Cesar Chavez in the memorial garden at La Paz, the United Farm Workers of America
headquarters, now the Cesar E. Chávez National Monument, in Keene, Calif.
AP Photo/Russell Contreras
Makeshift memorial to Hispanic Civil War Union soldiers who fought in the Battle of Glorieta Pass in northern New Mexico
outside Santa Fe.
a gathering place for activ-
ists during the 1970s Chicano
Movement — was among them.
But Albuquerque, New
Mexico-based activist Ralph
Arellanes Sr. says much more
needs to be done nationwide to
save Latino sites.
The makeshift memorial in
northern New Mexico dedi-
cated to Hispanic Union sol-
diers during the Battle of Glo-
rieta Pass is a good example.
The memorial off Interstate 25
is 20 miles southeast of Santa
Fe and was built by retired Dis-
trict Attorney Alfonso Sanchez.
It has wooden saints and crude
signs explaining a battle that has
been called “the Gettysburg of
the West.”
“I’m glad it’s there. But it
looks like just a taco stand, with-
out any tacos,” said Arellanes,
whose
great-great-grandpar-
ents served as trail guides for the
Union.
The site marks where Union
soldiers beat back the advanc-
ing Confederate Army, ending
the battle for the West during
the Civil War. Hispanic soldiers
played a key role in that fight.
Arellanes wants state law-
makers to dedicate around $5
million to revamp the site. The
Pecos National Historical Park
officials give tours of the battle-
field, but reservations often have
to be made weeks in advance.
Arellanes also thinks New
Mexico should preserve the
birthplace of United Farm
Worker co-founder Dolores
Huerta, who was born in north-
ern mining town Dawson. The
ghost town is surrounded by a
gated fence and is not open to
the public.
Besides money, advocates
sometimes have to fight local his-
torical commissions that decide
whether markers are erected,
according to John Moran Gon-
zalez, director of the Center for
Mexican American Studies at
the University of Texas. That’s
why advocates in recent months
have struggled to erect a monu-
ment commemorating the 1918
Porvenir Massacre — the killing
of 15 unarmed Mexican-Ameri-
cans in a border village by Texas
Rangers.
“A lot of these historical
county commissions are all
white with older members,”
Gonzalez said. “Remembering
these important moments can be
embarrassing to them.”
Still, some advocates say
progress is coming.
In Austin, Texas, for example,
a group of volunteers operates
the Austin Tejano Trail aimed at
giving visitors guided tours of
important churches, homes and
plazas linked to the city’s Mexi-
can-American history.
Earlier this year, a Houston
building where Mexican-Amer-
ican civil rights leaders planned
President John Kennedy’s his-
toric visit the night before his
assassination has been desig-
nated as a National Treasure
by the National Trust for His-
toric Preservation after years of
pressure. The LULAC Council
60 clubhouse historical site also
received a piece of a $450,000
grant to help with damage
caused by Hurricane Harvey last
year.
Sandoval said these are
encouraging developments as
activists try to work on com-
memorating Chavez in his birth-
place of Yuma, Arizona, along
the U.S.-Mexico border. He said
Yuma’s powerful agricultural
business interests resist most
efforts to honor the late farm
worker union leader.
“But the Latino population
is growing down here,” Sando-
val said. “They are going to be a
powerful voice soon, too.”
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN
Our creamy scalloped potatoes has a browned, cheesy crust
In our experience, most rec-
ipes for scalloped potatoes take
hours of work yet still produce
unevenly cooked potatoes in a
heavy, curdled sauce. This ver-
sion is faster than most and pro-
duces layer upon layer of thinly
sliced, tender potatoes, creamy
sauce, and nicely browned,
cheesy crust.
Simmering the potatoes
briefly in heavy cream thinned
out with milk before moving the
production into a baking dish
cut the cooking time signifi-
cantly while also eliminating the
risk of raw potatoes in the fin-
ished dish.
A sprinkling of cheddar
cheese and a mere 20 minutes
in the oven were enough to pro-
duce an appealingly browned,
cheesy crust. Russet potatoes,
thinly sliced, gave us neat layers
with the best texture and flavor.
For the fastest and most consis-
tent results, slice the potatoes in
a food processor.
SCALLOPED POTATOES
Servings: 8-10
Start to finish: 1 hour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 pounds russet potatoes,
peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-
thick slices
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces cheddar cheese,
shredded (about 1 cup)
Heat oven to 350 F. Melt but-
ter in large Dutch oven over
medium-high heat. Add onion
and saute until it turns soft and
begins to brown, about 4 min-
utes. Add garlic and saute until
fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add
potatoes, cream, milk, thyme
sprigs, bay leaves, salt, and pep-
per and bring to simmer. Cover,
adjusting heat as necessary to
maintain light simmer, and cook
until potatoes are almost tender
(paring knife can be slipped into
and out of center of potato slice
with some resistance), about 15
minutes.
Discard thyme sprigs and
bay leaves. Transfer potato mix-
ture to 3-quart baking dish and
sprinkle with cheese. Bake until
cream has thickened and is bub-
bling around sides and top is
golden brown, about 20 min-
utes. Let cool for 5 minutes
before serving.
Nutrition information per
serving: 462 calories; 302 calo-
ries from fat; 34 g fat (21 g sat-
urated; 1 g trans fats); 119 mg
cholesterol; 577 mg sodium; 35
g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 5 g
sugar; 9 g protein.
Joe Keller/America’s Test Kitchen via AP
Scalloped potatoes, as they appear in the cookbook “Holiday
Entertaining.”