Curious Unions: Mexican American Workers and Resistance in Oxnard, California, 1898–1961

Acknowledgments

ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not have been possible without the support of many people. I was fortunate to start my PhD program at the then Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University) under the tutelage of Vicki L. Ruiz. As she has done with so many other graduate students, Vicki guided my development into a historian. As an undergraduate and ma student at California State University, Fresno, I was introduced by Sidney H. Chang to the method of historical inquiry and writing. While I was at csu Fresno, Professor Chang enjoyed the reputation of having mentored the largest number of history students who went on to obtain doctorates. So I was privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from and be advised by two exceptional scholar-teachers. Other historians influential to my development are John W. Bohnstedt, Janet Brodie, Robert Dawidoff, and Joseph González. Their advice, encouragement, and support have contributed to my academic success. As I entered the world of teaching I was fortunate to have been mentored by a number of people. As a mentee of the Minority Mentorship Program at the Ventura County Community College District, I learned the fundamentals of teaching a college course under the supervision of Professor Larry Manson at Ventura College. That mentorship program and subsequent employment at Moorpark College as a summer school lecturer and as a grader for Professor Daniel Brown led to my first fulltime teaching gig, at Cypress College. It was there that Joseph Boyle, Luz Calvo, Neill Cooney, Enriqueta Ramos, and Thomas Reeve guided me as I began to learn the art of teaching. Thomas Reeve in particular encouraged me to pursue a doctorate. Enriqueta and Luz demonstrated the political act of teaching as we served as Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlán advisers in the heart of Orange County, California, in the mid-1990s. x acknowledgments At Claremont I experienced a strong sense of belonging as I studied along with Phillip Castruita, Virginia Espino, Matt García, Lara Medina, Alicia Rodriquez, and Antonia Villaseñor. The mixers and seminars we experienced together helped me endure the first, and most critical, year of my doctoral program. This core group of Chicanas and Chicanos linked the theory and historiography we came to learn to the community narratives from which we came. Their achievements in academe continue to be an inspiration. After obtaining my doctorate, I left Cypress College to be one of California State University Channel Islands’ first thirteen faculty members. The faculty and alumni of csu Northridge were critical in my transition from working at a community college to teaching at a university. These persons were Rodolfo F. Acuña, Jorge García, the late Avie Guerra, Fermín Herrera, the Moreno brothers (José and Luis), Francisco Romero, and Armando Vázquez. And although not affiliated with csu Northridge, Steven Arvizu (as a former csu professor, provost, and community college president) helped me comprehend the new system I found myself in. Jaime Casillas also provided support at this moment in my career. I would not have survived the first years of my probationary period without their backing. And how can a historian, or any academic in the humanities for that matter, achieve success in his or her career without the help of librarians? When I was an ma student at csu Fresno, librarian Thomas Ebert exposed me to the world of government documents. He also saw abilities in me that I did not know I had. In fact, I remember him saying, “Frank, when you write your book . . .” At that point in my life I had not imagined taking on such a challenge. Then there were the great librarians at the Claremont Graduate University and Cypress College. At csu Channel Islands, Connie Kelly, Steve Stratton, and Amy Wallace unfailingly fulfilled my research requests. I can always count on them and my other colleagues at the John Spoor Broome Library to support my research and teaching. Outside my university, many other librarians at Stanford, Wayne State University, the University of California at Los Angeles, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Oxnard Public Library aided my archival work. And then there is librarian Charles Johnson at the Museum of Ventura acknowledgments xi County. From the start of this project to its completion, Charles has introduced me to the archival treasures of his library. His continued assistance and friendship are important to me...