History ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-15-2022
Abstract
My dissertation explores the Latino experience in Santa Clara County, especially in San Jose. The area, located in Northern California’s Bay Area, is nestled just south of the more popular cities of Oakland and San Francisco, nearly five hundred miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. My examination of the social, cultural, and political activities of Latinos in San Jose provides insight into the community development of ethnic Mexicans away from traditional sites of study in places like Tucson, San Antonio, and Los Angeles. I argue that beginning at mid-century, Latinos moved into the downtown area and helped prevent nearby neighborhoods from experiencing depopulation, minimizing some of the impacts of white flight experienced by many other cities across the country. In addition, I argue ethnic Mexicans claimed space downtown through social-cultural activities, allowing them to make political inroads and eventually finding representation in city council with the arrival of district elections.
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Degree Name
History
Department Name
History
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Samuel Truett
Second Committee Member
Dr. Andrew K. Sandoval Strausz
Third Committee Member
Dr. Barbara O. Reyes
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. Larry Ball
Fifth Committee Member
Dr. Manuel Garcia Y Griego
Language
English
Keywords
Urban, Latino, San Jose, Politics, ethnic Mexican, Mexican American
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Jara, Alexandro J.. ""Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Ethnic Mexicans, Urbanism, Culture, and Politics in Emerging Silicon Valley, 1940-1980." (2022). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/307
Included in
American Politics Commons, Chicana/o Studies Commons, History Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons
