Memories and Migrations: Mapping Boricua and Chicana Histories (review)

278Southwestern Historical QuarterlyOctober tive function as "a vehicle for acculturating and integrating Jewish women into the city's upper strata," some exposition of members' views on the most compelling women's issues of the age seems appropriate. (82) Beyond this, Weiner provides useful insights intoJewish women's associational life in the state, and sheds needed light on the intrepid tactics through which Texas women blazed new paths to public visibility, influence, and equality. Ouachita Baptist UniversityKevin C. Motl Memories and Migrations: Mapping Boricua and Chicana Histories. Edited by Vicki L. Ruiz and John R. Chavez. (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2008. Pp. 248. Illustrations, notes, index. ISBN 9780252032387, $60.00 cloth; 9780252074783, $20.00 paper.) For more than a century and a half, Latinas have been informed and guided by their myriad migration travails. Memories and Migrations illustrates die importance ofhow societal forces such as gender, class, and region shape and shift among Latinas from generation to generation. This work places timely emphasis on region as a means toward developing a greater understanding of twentieth-century women. Ranging from Boricuas in Hawaii to Chicanas in Chicago, far too many interpretations ofLatinas have been historically misunderstood, manipulated, marginalized, and misguided. Although extensively researched within the boundaries of Latino/ a Studies, the aforementioned subgroups, which comprise seventy-five percent of all Latinos/as, have had a disproportionate number of edinographic and historical accounts produced that directly or indirectly mute the meaningful voices of women. Indeed, co-editorJohn R. Chavez, professor of history at Southern Methodist University, pursued the publication of diis manuscript in part to make up for his failure to notice female perspectives in past scholarship. This work is a fascinating and important study that offers valuable insights into the ways in which Puerto Rican and Mexican-American women have sought inclusion in an intolerant American environment that previously negated their existence. By focusing on the significance of a given regional context, the audience is bound to appreciate the differential construction and reconstruction of ethnic/racial identity among and between gender relationships. Edited by Chavez and distinguished historian Vicki L. Ruiz, the book is divided into eight essays in three parts. Chapter one examines the impact of Mexican-American women in Colorado with an eye toward coal-town life in the pre-Great Depression era. The chapter serves to remind the reader that, all across the Southwest, Mexican Americans were reviled and only valued as an asset for cheap and pliable unskilled labor. Chapter two is a welcome contribution largely because of its concentration on a Tucson community. As die least-known history among the five southwestern states with the largest Mexican-American populations, diis Arizona case study explored through the agency ofAlva Torres is sorely needed. Chapter three looks at the youthful nature of Mexican immigration from 1900 to 1940. In doing so, it tactfully touches on child labor practices in Texas. Chapter 20ogBook Reviews27g four is somewhat reminiscent of Gabriela F. Arredondo's 2008 work Mexican Chicago : Race, Identity, and Nation, 191 6-39 (University ofIllinois Press) while Carmen Teresa Whalen makes yet another worthwhile contribution in chapter five with a careful review of Puerto Rican labor experiences in New York City. Chapter six discusses Latina partnerships in the pursuit of electoral participation and incorporation into the Washington state political system. Chapter seven chronicles the footsteps of the Chicana Movement as it crosses into Mexico City. Finally, chapter eight not only delves into Puerto Rican identity formation based on phenotype, religion, education, and class, but does so through the lens of Virginia Sánchez Korrol, one of the first Latinas to earn a Ph.D. in history. This collective work shows scholars die value ofexploring both a female analysis-centered approach as well as a balanced gender line of historical inquiry when writing about our shared history. For all interested in Latino/a Studies, Gender Studies, Chicano/a and Puerto Rican working class history, immigration patterns, and American ethnic history in general, this book is essential. Public and academic libraries should also shelve a copy because it places the multifaceted experiences of Latinas in a better perspective. Rutgers UniversityDarius V. Echeverría lMtino Pentecostal Identity: Evangelical Faith, Self, and...