Join Dr. Chris Stacey for our "Topics in Chicago History" virtual lecture and discussion series on Zoom.

Wednesday, August 5^th 6:30pm: Mexican Migration From 1920-1940

This lecture is open to all members of the Chicago Columbia alumni community. All participants will be unmuted throughout the evening's presentation so we can engage in maximum participation on the topic. All registrants are sent a study guide and a selected set of materials to prepare for the topic. The format is 50 minutes of lecture with Q & A followed by 50 minutes of discussion.

Topic Preview: A set of push and pull factors were behind the Mexican migration to Chicago – some of these were distinct and some were similar to those behind the first Great Migration of African-Americans to the city. Though many Mexican migrants expressed a desire to save money and return home, many of them stayed in South Chicago and created the physical and cultural foundations of a community that became a vibrant Mexican enclave during the 1920s-1940s.

We will examine the transnational character of Mexican migration to Chicago with special emphasis on Mexican nationalists who held an anticlerical and social reformist worldview and their differences and clashes with “traditionalist” Mexicans who migrated to Chicago. We will examine whether the “historical silences” about the rich history of Mexican immigrant activism in Chicago during the interwar period is somehow connected to the fact the majority of Mexicans never became U.S. citizens.

Events Covered: Origins of Mexican Migration, South Chicago, Back of the Yards, Transnationalism, Mexican Nationalists, Mexican Traditionalists, Mexican Business, Political, Social, and Religious Communities, and Deportation During the 1930s

Date: Wednesday, August 5

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

Zoom: Link for Zoom and topic materials sent to all registrants