This bibliography includes selected print and electronic sources related to U.S.-Mexico border issues that are available at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, as well as various academic and public libraries. The materials encompass a variety of disciplines including history, political science, health science, economics, society and culture, and the arts. The bibliography is divided into six major sections:
* Call numbers and locations are for Smithsonian Institution Libraries collections only. Users should consult with their local libraries for appropriate call numbers and locations.
** Online journals and databases are accessible to users at the Smithsonian Institution. Library users not physically at the Smithsonian Institution should consult with their local academic and public libraries for availability of online resources.
For further information on the bibliographic selections, the entire Smithsonian Institution bibliographic catalog may be accessed and searched at http://www.siris.si.edu.
Listed below are the Library of Congress subject headings used to locate sources listed in this bibliography. These subject headings may be used to locate additional sources. In addition, one can use broader terms or specific location names followed by subheadings (Examples: Labor—Mexican American Border Region; Education—Mexican American Border Region; Tijuana—Social Conditions; Mexican Americans—Texas). This is a selected list of subject headings.
| Big Bend Region | Border Patrols--United States |
| Cities and towns--Mexican American Border Region | Folk Literature, American--Texas |
| Folk Literature--Mexican | Folk Songs--Mexico |
| Lower Rio Grande Valley (Tex.) | Mexican-American Border Region |
| Mexicans--Southwest, New | Mexicans--United States |
| Mexico--Boundaries--United States | Mexico--History |
| Mexico, North | Rio Grande Region |
| Southwest, New | Southwest, Old |
| United States--Boundaries--Mexico | United States--Relations--Mexico |
| United States and Mexican Boundary Survey | Water Rights |
Bartletti, Don. Between two worlds: The people of the border, Photographs. Oakland, CA: The Oakland Museum, 1992.
q TR647 .B2654 O2 1992 (NMAA/PG); q TR820 .B29 1992 (NMAH)
Features photographs of life on the Tijuana-San Diego border. Includes a Spanish-English introduction, and several essays focusing on the lives of people attempting to cross the border into the United States. Photographs have Spanish-English captions; includes information on border crossing, the border as a symbolic and physical separation, the life that awaits those who cross the border, and squatter settlements along the border.
The Border Art Workshop (BAW/TAF) 1984-1989: A documentation of 5 years of interdisciplinary art projects dealing with U.S.-Mexico border issues (a binational perspective). Taller de Arte Fronterizo (BAW/TAF) 1984-1989: Documentación de 5 años de proyectos de arte interdisciplinario sobre asuntos de la frontera de Estados Unidos con México (una perspectiva binacional). San Diego, CA: Border Art Workshop / Taller de Arte Fronterizo, 1988.
N6538 .M4 B67 1988 (NMAA/PG)
Catalog documenting the Vidas Perdidas / Lost Lives exhibition of 1989 that addressed the issue of undocumented workers that cross the border to work in the U.S. Also focuses on the five year history of the BAW / TAF, an interdisciplinary group of artists “working to discover and define the myriad levels of border consciousness.” Includes essays, interviews, photographs, political cartoons, and installations.
Chávez, Patricio and Madeleine Grynsztejn, curators. La Frontera / The Border: Art about the Mexico / United States border experience. San Diego: Centro Cultural de la Raza, Museum of Contemporary Art, 1993.
N6538 .M4 F77 1993X (NMAA/PG)
Culminating exhibition of the Dos Ciudades / Two Cities collaboration project between the Centro Cultural de la Raza and the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego. Divided into two sections: (1) Writings in Spanish and English, by Gloria Anzaldúa, Sandra Cisneros, Patricio Chávez, Madeleine Grynsztejn, David Avalos, and Maria Eraña; (2) 37 color artists’ plates of photographs, paintings, and installations. The exhibit addresses themes of self-determination, independence, migration, and immigration.
Clendenen, Clarence Clemens. The United States and Pancho Villa; A study in unconventional diplomacy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1961.
F1234 .C64 1961X (NMAH)
Focuses on the role of Pancho Villa in shaping American history. Attempts to trace, in chronological order, the events of an “obscure phase” of United States diplomatic history. Analyzes the civil strife in Mexico and the importance of the leading personalities of the Mexican Revolution to American policy.
Gomez-Peña, Guillermo. Dangerous border crossers: The artist talks back. NY: Routledge, 2000.
N40.1 .G61441 A1 2000 (NMAA/PG)
Composed of writings that span from 1994 to 1999 and chronicle performances, reflections and essays on performance, culture, identity and politics, conversations with colleagues, texts written for NPR, and excerpts from diaries and performance scripts by performance artist and writer, Guillermo Gomez-Peña. Focuses on revealing “what lies behind and beneath the making of performance art, particularly when crossing extremely volatile geographical and cultural borders.”
Gregg, Robert Danforth. The influence of border troubles on relations between the United States and Mexico, 1876-1910. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1937.
F786 .G742X 1937 (NMAH)
Divided into four sections: “The Border Problem” (focuses on conflicts on the U.S.-Mexico border including cattle raids and border movement of goods and people), “The Struggle Over Recognition” (discusses the relationship between the U.S. and General Porfirio Diaz), “Border Lawlessness”, and “Growing Peace and Order, 1881-1910” (the expansion of railroads connecting the U.S. and Mexico, widespread concessions to American mining and railroad interests in Mexico).
Hall, Dawn, ed. Drawing the borderline: Artist-explorers of the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey. Albuquerque, NM: Albuquerque Museum, 1996.
N8214.5 .U6 D76 1996 (NMAA/PG)
Exhibition catalog on the visual images completed by the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey commissioner, John Russell Bartlett, and artists Henry Cheever Pratt and Seth Eastman. Includes sketches and watercolors (most dating from 1850-1853), as well as five essays on the history and controversy involving the border. Essays are written from a variety of viewpoints including those of art history, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico history, ecology and the environment.
Hart, John Mason. Border crossings: Mexican and Mexican-American workers. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 1998.
HD8081 .M6 B673 1998X (NMAH)
Collection of essays by various scholars comparing and contrasting the experiences of ethnic Mexican workers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Explores the emergence and evolution of working class consciousness among Mexican workers, from its cultural beginnings and the rise of industrialism to the late 20th century, gender and class issues in labor, worker mobilization, labor formation, community and politics, and immigration.
Henderson, Peter V. N. Mexican exiles in the borderlands, 1910-1913. El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1979.
F790 .M5 H46X 1979 (NMAH)
Focuses on anti-Porfirio Diaz exiles and their immediate successors in their attempts to overturn the incumbent regimes of Mexico from 1910-1913. Looks at various post-Porfiriato revolts and leaders on the U.S.-Mexico border, and the relationship of the United States to Mexico.
Heyman, Josiah McConnell. Life and labor on the border: Working people of northeastern Sonora, Mexico, 1886-1986. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991.
HD8119 .S662 H49 1991X (NMAH)
“Traces the development over the past hundred years of the urban working class in northern Sonora.” Also “describes what has happened to families over several generations as people left the countryside to work for American-owned companies in northern Sonora or to cross the border to find other employment” in the United States.
Hinkle, Stacy C. Wings over the border, the Army Air Service armed patrol of the United States-Mexico border, 1919-1921. El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1970.
F1234 .H66 (NASM)
Author’s first-hand account of the establishment of the Border Air Patrol in 1919 and its end in 1921, as well as his own participation. Provides brief historical information on the events that led up to the creation of the BAP, including cattle raids and revolutionary unrest on the border. Includes patrol districts and surveillance routes, instructions to flying officers, descriptions of planes, information on communication and armament, border patrol activities, accounts of individuals, events, and missions, maps, etc.
Ingram, Helen M. Divided waters: Bridging the U.S.-Mexico border. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995.
HD1694 .A3 1995X (NMAH)
Focuses on the spectrum of water problems on the U.S.-Mexico border. Explains the nature of water development and utilization in the twin border cities of Nogales, delineating the social, economic, political, and institutional problems that block effective management of water sources. Provides historical background of these problems, the nature of the conflicts, information on those who are affected, legal and political problems, and the changes necessary for improvement.
Klein, Alan M. Baseball on the border: A tale of two Laredos. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
GV867.64 .K54 1997X (NMAH)
The result of Klein’s two-year observation of the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (the Owls of the Two Laredos), a binational baseball team based in the twin border cities of Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. This book focuses on the issue of nationalism on the border with emphasis on the complex nature of this geographical area and how differences in language, nationality, and culture are mediated. Provides some historical information on the region and looks at the relations between people on either side of the border through this binational team.
Martínez, Oscar J. Border people: Life and society in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994.
F787 .M36 1994X (NMAH)
Based on interviews with individuals from all walks of life living on the U.S.-Mexico border, this book focuses on explaining the way of life of this population. It emphasizes the characteristics and experiences of this population first, as individual, distinct groups (Mexican, Mexican-Americans, Anglo-Americans, etc.), and second, as a singular population united by its common experiences living in a unique geographical area, the border.
_______________. Troublesome border. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988.
F786 .M42 1988X (NMAH)
Focuses on the conflict in the U.S.-Mexico border region, examining selected topics that bring to light past and contemporary relationships in the borderlands. Topics include the historical background of the creation of the border, the impact of the border (restrictions of mobility, separation of populations) on those who reside in the area, ecological issues, environmental pollution, and human conflict spawned by the intense binational interaction in the area.
________________. U.S.-Mexico borderlands: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1996.
F786. U13 1996X (NMAH)
Includes scholarly essays and documents organized into seven sections, each exploring a key issue in borderlands studies—the making of the boundary, border strife, the rise in transborder interaction, the Mexican Revolution, economic problems, U.S.-Mexico interdependence, and the border as an area unique from other geographic areas. Each section includes one or two essays followed by related documents including treaties, government reports, newspaper articles, and interviews. Writings by both U.S. and Mexican scholars are included.
Miller, Tom. On the border. (En la frontera: Imágenes desconocidas de nuestra frontera norte). Mexico: Alianza, 1991.
F787 .M65 1991 (NMAH)
[Text is in Spanish.] This book follows the author’s journey from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, throughout which he spoke to residents of U.S.-Mexico border towns. Focuses on conflicts and culture in the U.S.-Mexico border region, the border region as a “third country” not adhering to the laws or customs of the U.S. or Mexico and having a unique identity, and the “positive attitudes, struggles, and daily pleasures” of border inhabitants.
Neuberger Museum of Art. Border stories / Cuentos de la frontera: A collection of personal immigration experiences. Purchase, NY: Neuberger Museum of Art; Center for Editions, Purchase College, 1994.
E184 .A1 N48 1994 (NMAH)
Collection of personal narratives on the immigration experience presenting “a range of experiences from actual border crossings to the cultural and psychological borders encountered on a daily basis….” Produced in conjunction with the exhibition La Frontera / The Border: Art about the Mexico / United States border experience (see individual entry for this exhibit’s catalog).
Paredes, Américo. Folklore and culture on the Texas-Mexican border. Austin, TX: CMAS Books, Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1993.
GR110 .T5 P28 1993X (NMAH)
A collection of Américo Paredes’s most significant scholarly articles published between 1958 and 1987 focusing on the folklore and culture of the Lower Rio Grande border of south Texas and northeastern Mexico. Articles on the folklore of Mexican Americans, culture conflict along the Lower Rio Grande border, folk poetry, the Mexican corrido, machismo, the folklorization of actual events, the decima, and Texas-Mexico border jests are included in this work.
________________. A Texas-Mexican cancionero: Folksongs of the lower border. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1976.
M1668.4 .T49X (NMAH)
Songbook of the Lower Rio Grande border region. Includes 66 songs along with the music, as well as notes on tempo and performance. Recounts the history of Texas-Mexicans from 1750 to 1960, and includes information on the specific styles of songs (corridos, enlaces, danzas, décimas, canciones, serenatas) generally associated with particular areas and subjects, and their functions in border life. Provides English lyrics, as well as an extensive bibliography and discography, and a Spanish-English glossary.
________________. “With his pistol in his hand”: A border ballad and its hero. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958.
PQ7297 .A1 C63X (NMAH)
This book provides an in-depth study of the Corrido of Gregorio Cortez Lira, a folk song performed on both sides of the border that tells the story of a ranch hand of Mexican parentage who in 1901 killed a Texas sheriff and became a legend. Includes information on the Lower Rio Grande border region and its people, history, and folkways, the legend behind the corrido, the facts of Gregorio Cortez Lira’s life as known to the author, a history of the corrido genre on the border, and variants (in Spanish and English) of the Corrido of Gregorio Cortez Lira.
Peña, Devon Gerardo. The terror of the machine: Technology, work, gender, and ecology on the U.S.-Mexico border. Austin: CMAS Books, 1997. HD8119 .M49 P46 1997X (NMAH)
This interdisciplinary work examines the border workplace and community struggles from the perspectives of women who work in maquiladoras, assembly-line factories located along the U.S-Mexico border. Analyzes the political, cultural, and environmental effects of the maquila industry in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Includes personal narratives from women working in maquiladoras, a historical look at the development of factory technology and workplace organization in Western society, maquila workers’ struggle and resistance, changes in the industry from 1982 to 1992, and the environmental impacts of the maquila, among other topics.
Pugach, Marleen Carol. On the border of opportunity: Education, community, and language at the U.S.-Mexico line. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1998.
LC191.8 .M58 P84 1998X (NMAH)
Observations of a border town’s (Havens, New Mexico) educational system and experiences, with the focus on how the border affects low graduation rates among children living in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Studies the linguistic, cultural, religious and academic diversity, and how the schools can work with the diversity among students in order to create a better educational system.
Ragsdale, Kenneth Baxter. Wings over the Mexican border: Pioneer military aviation in the Big Bend. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984.
UG634 .T4 R34 1984X (NASM)
Divided into two main sections focusing on the Escobar Rebellion and the U.S.-Mexico border in 1929, and the U.S. Army Air Corps operations at the Johnson’s Ranch airfield. This book focuses primarily on the military pilots assigned to critical locations along the border to “secure the lives and property of United States citizens while hastening the end of the revolution.”
Robinson, Cecil. No short journeys: The interplay of cultures in the history and literature of the borderlands. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1992.
PS277 .R6 1992X (NMAH)
Collection of essays previously published in other journals and books focusing on American literature as inclusive of all the Americas. Essays examine cultural interplay between North America and Hispanic America, with emphasis on the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
Saldivar, José David. Border matters: Remapping American cultural studies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
F787 .S19 1997X (NMAH)
This work focuses on the inclusion of the U.S.-Mexico border experience within American cultural studies. Proposes a model for a new kind of U.S. cultural studies that includes Chicano/a cultural perspectives from diverse texts such as corridos, novels, poems, music, paintings, performance art, etc., that challenge the homogeneity of U.S. nationalism and culture.
Samponaro, Frank N. and Paul J. Vanderwood. War scare on the Rio Grande: Robert Runyon’s photographs of the border conflict, 1913-1916. Austin: Texas State Historical Association for the Barker Texas History Center, 1991.
qTR647 .R942 S19 1991 (NMAA/PG)
Photographs by border photographer, Robert Runyon, and historical information on the political turmoil occurring on the U.S.-Mexico border at the beginning of the 20th century. Provides historical context for three events that highlighted this period: the agrarian reform program launched by Mexican colonel Lucio Blanco in 1913, border raidings that climaxed in 1915, and the mobilization of U.S. troops around Brownsville in 1916. Also includes biographical information on Robert Runyon.
Sanchez, Mario L., ed. A shared experience: The history, architecture and historic designations of the Lower Rio Grande heritage corridor. Austin, TX: Los Caminos del Rio Heritage Project and the Texas Historical Commission, 1991.
F392 .R5 S48 1991X (NMAH)
Focuses on the 200-mile border region from Brownsville to Laredo as “one continuous, international heritage corridor,” and the Los Caminos del Rio Heritage Project that promoted the development of the international river corridor along the Texas-Mexico border. Promotes the river route as a prime vehicle for the development of heritage tourism and the enhancement of community pride for people on both sides of the Rio Grande. Appendices include contact information for departments / agencies, and government documents.
Sandos, James A. Rebellion in the borderlands: Anarchism and the Plan of San Diego, 1904-1923. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.
F392 .R5 S26 1992X (NMAH)
Explores the Plan of San Diego, an uprising that erupted in 1915 in the Lower Rio Grande valley (seeking to liberate Texas from American rule, among other goals) and continued for two years. Focuses on the role of Mexican activist Ricardo Flores Magón in U.S.-Mexico border unrest, and looks at “the concept of borderlands history with traditional concerns about cultural contact and conflict along frontiers.”
Sklair, Leslie. Maquiladoras: Annotated bibliography and research guide to Mexico’s in-bond industry, 1980-1988. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, 1988.
HD9734 .M42 S55 1988 (NMAH)
Divided into four sections: (1) Academic books, journals, and official publications; (2) Reviews “maquila-related items” in academic books, journals, and official publications (these are sources whose main focus are on other topics, but include information of interest about the maquila industry or matters of central relevance to it); (3) Newspapers and magazines; (4) Political and promotional materials. The sources included were collected from 1986-1988, but cover the years 1980-1988. Includes Spanish language, as well as English sources; annotations are all in English. Also includes popular media sources.
Spener, David and Kathleen Staudt, eds. The U.S.-Mexico border: Transcending divisions, contesting identities. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998.
F787 .U66 1998X (NMAH)
Examination of the U.S.-Mexico border relationship and the borderlands as an “ongoing, dialectical process that generates multiple borderland spaces.” Chapters are divided into four thematic sections: varying conception of borders, economic and social organization at different points along the Mexico-U.S. border, identity and symbolic borders, and the nature of the transformation being experienced in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Stoddard, Ellwyn R., Richard L. Nostrand, and Jonathan P. West, eds. Borderlands sourcebook: A guide to the literature on northern Mexico and the American southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983.
Z1251 .S8 B67 1983X (NMAH)
Reference volume of source materials on border area topics written and evaluated by leading borderlands scholars from a variety of disciplines. Divided into three sections dealing with a variety of topics and issues of importance to border studies including history, legal issues, the environment, economics, culture and language, society, etc. Each chapter is an article on a particular issue and includes a bibliography of related sources. The volume includes a composite bibliography of books, articles, dissertations and theses, unauthored public documents, and miscellaneous resource materials; also includes maps and tables. The most recent sources included are from the 1970s.
Thompson, Jerry D., ed. Juan Cortina and the Texas-Mexico frontier, 1859-1877. El Paso: Texas Western Press, University of Texas, 1994.
F391 .C77 T48 1994X (NMAH)
Collection of documents on the life of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina of Tamaulipas, a Mexican “social bandit,” outlaw, rebel leader, and politician who became legendary in the 19th century history of the Texas-Mexico frontier. Composed of nine pronunciamientos from 1859 to 1877 recovered from various archives and period newspapers, these depict Cortina’s determination to end the brutalization of Mexicans in Texas, his emergence as politician, his imprisonment in Mexico City, and more. Includes maps, photographs, an appendix of Cortina’s Brownsville Raiders, and a bibliography including manuscripts and archival collections, books, articles, newspapers, government publications, and unpublished materials.
Thompson, Jerry D. A wild and vivid land: An illustrated history of the south Texas border. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1997.
F386 .T48 1997X (NMAA/PG)
Historical information on the south Texas border accompanied by the works of various artists and photographers. Topics covered include the land, the Coahuiltecan Indians of south Texas, Spanish exploration, the establishment of towns and cities, revolutions / wars, the introduction of steamboats and river commerce on the Rio Grande, U.S.-Mexico relations, folk heroes and revolutionary leaders, the railroad, the Great Depression, migrant farmworkers, the discovery of oil and gas, and the sheep, cattle, and citrus industries.
Tinker Salas, Miguel. In the shadow of the eagles: Sonora and the transformation of the border during the Porfiriato. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
F1346 .T56 1997X (NMAH)
Focuses on the dynamic relationship that developed between Sonora and the southwestern United States as a result of Sonora’s economic transformation from “neglected internal frontier to bustling and influential border state” at the end of the 19th century. Includes information on the development of regional credit practices, the elite’s use of violence as a political tool, the effects of class, race and gender in Sonoran society, and the influence of the railroad and mining on the border economy.
Torres, Olga Beatriz. Memorias de mi viaje / Recollections of my trip. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.
F395 .M5 T67 1994X (NMAH)
Presented in a bilingual format, this collection of letters from a young Mexican girl to her aunt was originally published in 1918 in El Paso del Norte, a newspaper established by and for Mexicans fleeing the revolution. This collection is one of the few accounts of early 20th century Southwest told from the point of view of an upper class female observer, and one of the few works by a female to be discovered in the “El Mexico de Afuera” history. Depicts the process of transculturalization. Introduction provides historical information on the Mexican migration to the U.S., and the formation of the “El Mexico de Afuera” population, Mexicans living in the U.S. but hoping to return to Mexico.
Urrea, Luis Alberto. By the lake of sleeping children: The secret life of the Mexican border. New York: Anchor Books, 1996.
HN120 .T52 U773 1996X (NMAH)
Explores the lives of those living in Tijuana on the U.S.-Mexico border, as dump dwellers, tourists, orphans, coyotes, etc. Examines the horrors and simple joys of the people trapped between two countries and ignored by both. First hand interviews and profiles of the men, women, and children living in this region, and the resourcefulness and strength of these people.
Utley, Robert Marshall. Changing course: The international boundary, United States and Mexico, 1848-1963. Tucson: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1996.
F786 .U85 1996X (NMAH)
A history of border-related treaties, disputes, issues, and players in the formation of the U.S.-Mexico boundary, from the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848 to the signing of the Chamizal Treaty in 1963. Includes portraits, maps, photographs. Also provides additional information on the Chamizal Treaty of 1963 that ended 140 years of boundary disputes over the 600-acre tract of land bordering the Rio Grande between El Paso and Juárez.
Vanderwood, Paul J. Border fury: A picture postcard record of Mexico’s Revolution and U.S. war preparedness, 1910-1917. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.
F1234 .V2 1988X (NMAH)
Includes more than 200 postcard reproductions depicting the conflict along the U.S.-Mexico border. Focuses on picture postcards as untapped sources of historical documentation through their images and the messages written by senders—revealing details from the kinds of weaponry used to the attitudes of American soldiers toward the Mexican people. Provides information on the phenomenon and popularity of the picture postcard (the Golden Age of picture postcards coincided with the Mexican Revolution), the photographers (with emphasis on Walter H. Horne, the most successful of the postcard photographers), the Mexican Revolution, and the American response to border conflicts.
Vélez-Ibañez, Carlos G. Border visions: Mexican culture of the Southwest United States. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996.
F790 .M5 V45 1996X (NMAH)
This book is “an attempt to piece together the history and understand the process by which human beings with their own ideology moved into the United States Southwest and created a sense of cultural place, and to try to understand the attempt by others to define or deny that cultural place by building fences of various sorts.” Also focuses on how the Anglo-American entrance into the Southwest initiated, through practices on both side of the border, the formation of an “undervalued commodity: the Mexican population and its labor.” Each section is introduced with “’mini-ethnobiographies’” that provide the author’s personal view and insight to the topic of discussion that follows.
Weber, David J. Myth and the history of the Hispanic Southwest: Essays. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988.
F786 .W365 1988X (NMAH)
Seeks to tell the "Hispanic" side of American history and counterbalance one-sided versions of America’s westward expansion. Considers some of the myths inherent in the writing of the history of Spanish-Mexican peoples in what is today the American Southwest, and calls for the inclusion of Mexican Americans in historical narrative.
Weisman, Alan. La frontera: The United States border with Mexico. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
F786 .W375 1986X (NMAA/PG)
Historical information, as well as personal narratives interspersed with black and white photograph plates of people and locations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Developed as a project to discover what the U.S.-Mexico border region meant to the two worlds involved and whether, under the pressure of these two groups, it had “metamorphosed” into a new separate entity.
The following materials are sources that may not necessarily focus on current U.S.-Mexico border issues, but that may provide current and historical information relevant to this subject, including information on the creation of the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.
Bartlett, John Russell. Personal narrative of explorations and incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission, during the years 1850, ’51, ’52, and ’53. New York, London: D. Appleton & Company, 1854.
F786 .B28X (Special Collections A & I); F786 .B28X 1854 (Special Collections Dibner)
Blake, Tupper Ansel. Two eagles / Dos Aguilas: The natural world of the United States-Mexico borderlands. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
fQH104.5 .S6 B58 1994X (NMNH)
Boatright, Mody Coggin, ed. Mexican border ballads and other lore. Austin: Texas Folklore Society, 1946.
M1682 .B66 1946 (NMAH)
Emory, William H. Notes on the survey of the boundary line between Mexico and the United States. Cincinnati: Morgan & Overend, Printers, 1851.
F786 .U44 1850 (Special Collections Dibner)
Fowler, Gene and Bill Crawford. Border radio: Quacks, yodelers, pitchmen, psychics and other amazing broadcasters of the American airwaves. Austin, TX: Texas Monthly Press, 1987.
HE8699 .M4 F68 1987X (NMAH)
Garber, Paul Neff. The Gadsden Treaty. Philadelphia: Press of the University of Philadelphia, 1923.
F786 .G192X (NMAH)
Garcia, Mario T. Desert immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso, 1880-1920. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981.
On Order (NOTIS) as of 07/24/00.
Garr, Daniel J., ed. Hispanic urban planning in North America. New York: Garland Pub., 1991.
HT167.5 .S68 H57 1991X (NMAA/PG)
Gehlbach, Frederick R. Mountain islands and desert seas: A natural history of the U.S.-Mexican borderlands. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1993.
QH104.5 .S6 G43 1993 (NMNH); QH104.5 .S6 G43X (SI Tropical Research Institute)
Humphrey, Robert R. 90 years and 535 miles: Vegetation changes along the Mexican border. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
QK142 .H86 1987X (NMNH--Botany)
International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. Proceedings of the International (Water) Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico, treaties of 1884 and 1889. Equitable distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903.
fF786 .I65X 1903 (NMAH)
International Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico (1882-1896). Memoria de la Sección Mexicana de la Comisión Internacional de Límites entre México y los Estados Unidos que restableció los monumentos de El Paso al Pacifico; bajo la dirección de México del ingeniero Jacobo Blanco, jefe de la Comisión Mexicana. Nueva York: Impr. De J. Polhemus y Compania, 1901.
qF786 .I61 (SI Libraries Research Annex)
International Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico (1882-1896). Report of the Boundary Commission upon the survey and re-making of the boundary between the United States and Mexico west of the Rio Grande, 1891 to 1896. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898.
q mfm 000814 (NMAA/PG); q mfm 000814 (NMAH)
International Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico (1882-1896). Report of the Boundary Commission upon the survey and re-making of the boundary between the United States and Mexico west of the Rio Grande, 1891 to 1896. Album. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899.
F786 .I602X (SI Libraries Research Annex)
Jackson, Robert H., ed. New views of borderlands history. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998.
F786 .N49 1998X (NMAH)
Lopez-Stafford, Gloria. A place in El Paso: A Mexican-American childhood. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996.
F394 .E4 L67 1996X (NMAH)
McGuire, Randall H., ed. Ethnology of Northwest Mexico: A sourcebook. New York: Garland Pub., 1992.
F1219.1 .N6 E74 1992X (NMAH)
Messmacher, Miguel. La interdependencia en la frontera norte de México: Población, industria, comercio y turismo en la región de Piedras Negras, Coahuila. México, D.F.: Secretaria de Educación Pública, Cultura, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social, 1983.
HC138 .P53 M47 1983X (NMNH--Anthropology)
[Planos de la] linea divisoria entre México y los Estados Unidos al oeste del Rio Grande levantada y marcada … por la Comisión internacional de límites creada por la convención de julio 29 de 1882, renovada por la convención de febrero 18 de 1889…. Nueva York?: Impr. De J. Polhemus y Compania?, 1901?.
fG1496 .F2174 1901X (NMAH)
Robbins, William G. Colony and empire: The capitalist transformation of the American West. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
HC107 .A17 R59 1994X (NMAH)
Rodriguez, Jaime E. and Kathryn Vincent, eds. Common border, uncommon paths: Race, culture, and national identity in U.S.-Mexican relations. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1997.
E183.8 .M6 C64 1997X (NMAH)
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejano empire: Life on the south Texas ranchos. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998.
F392 .N82 T55 1998X (NMAH)
United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. Report of the Secretary of War: Communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate, the report of Lieutenant Colonel Graham on the subject of the boundary line between the United States and Mexico … 1852. Washington: s.n., 1853?.
F786 .U582 1853 (Special Collections Dibner)
United States Department of the Interior. Report of the Secretary of the Interior: Communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate, a copy of the charges preferred against the present commissioner appointed to run and mark the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. Washington, D.C.: s.n., 1852.
F786 .U44 1850 (Special Collections Dibner)
United States Department of the Interior. Report of the Secretary of the Interior: In answer to a resolution of the Senate calling for information in relation to the operations of the commission appointed to run and mark the boundary between the United States and Mexico. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1850.
F786 .U44 1850 (Special Collections Dibner)
United States Department of the Interior. Report on the United States and Mexican boundary survey: Made under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior (by William H. Emory, major First Cavalry, and United States Commissioner). Washington: Cornelius Wendell, printer, 1857-1859.
F786 .U45X 1857 (Special Collections A & I)
United States War Department. Message from the President of the United States, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate concerning the fur trade, and in land trade to Mexico…. Washington: s.n., 1832.
F396 .U56 1832 (Special Collections Dibner)
Vistas de los monumentos á lo largo de la línea divisoria entre México y los Estados Unidos de El Paso al Pacífico, tomados, por parte de México bajo la dirección del ingeniero Jacobo Blanco, jefe de la Sección Mexicana de la Comissión internacional de límites que restableció los monumentos en los años de 1892 á 1895. Nueva York: Impr. de J. Polhemus y Companía, 1901?.
F786 .I61 (SI Libraries Research Annex)
Vizcaya Canales, Isidro. La invasión de los indios bárbaros al noreste de México en los años de 1840 y 1841. Monterrey, 1968.
E99 .C85 V86 (NMNH--Anthropology)
This section provides information on periodicals about Hispanic Americans and / or Latin Americans that may include information on U.S.-Mexico border issues. Note: Journals available online through Project Muse can only be accessed on site at the Smithsonian, through SIRIS. Library users not physically at the Smithsonian Institution should consult with their local academic and public libraries for availability of Project Muse.
Guide to Hispanic cultural world: A publication of Hispanic Institute for the Performing Arts, Inc. / HIFPA. Washington, D.C.: HIFPA, 1988-.
NX1 .G946 (Central Reference and Loan Services)
Hispanic. Washington, D.C.: Hispanic Pub. Corp., 1988-.
E184 .S75 H54X (NMAH) Also available online: www.hisp.com
The Hispanic American Historical Review. Washington, D.C.: Board of Editors of the Hispanic American Review, 1918-.
F1401 .H66X (NMNH-- Anthropology); F1401 .H66X (SI Libraries Research Annex) Issues from 1999 and 2000 are available online through Project Muse in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries “Databases & E-Journals” section: muse.jhu.edu/journals/hahr
Hopscotch. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999-.
AP1 .H796 (NMAA/PG) Issues from 1999 and 2000 are available online through Project Muse in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries “Databases & E-Journals” section: muse.jhu.edu/journals/hop
La Linea Quebrada / The Broken Line. Tijuana; San Diego: Centro Cultural de la Raza, 1986-.
AP1 .L753 (NMAA/PG)
Studies in Hispanic-American History. Washington: Catholic University of America, 1937-.
F1401 .C363 (NMNH--Anthropology)
All databases are accessible on site to users at the Smithsonian through the Smithsonian Institution Libraries main Web page (via the “Databases & E-Journals” link). Library users not physically at the Smithsonian Institution should consult with their local academic and public libraries for availability of online resources.
America: History and Life“America: History and Life is a complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Published since 1964, the database comprises almost 400,000 bibliographic entries….” Includes abstracts, various search fields.Art Abstracts (Wilson)
“A bibliographic database that cites articles from more than 285 periodicals published throughout the world. Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. In addition to articles, the database indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.” Coverage from September 1984 to the present. Provides abstracts and complete reference options.Chicano Database
“This is the most comprehensive bibliographic resource for information about Mexican-American topics and the only specialized database for Chicano reference.” Covers a variety of subject areas including art, bilingual education, economics, film, folklore, health, history, labor, language, law, literature, mental health, music, politics, psychology, public policy, religion, sociology, women’s studies, and more. Coverage begins in 1967 and continues to the present. Also includes (1992 to present) coverage on the “broader Latino experience of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Central American immigrants.”
FRANCIS (International Humanities and Social Sciences)
FRANCIS "indexes multilingual, multidisciplinary information published in over 4,200 journals covering the humanities (67%), social sciences (30%), and economics (3%). The database is strong in religion, the history of art, psychology, and literature (with particular emphasis on current trends in European and world literature). It contains bilingual (English - French) subject descriptors. Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of abstracts in 80% of the records. FRANCIS represents a wide range of materials, including serials, journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, French dissertations, exhibition catalogs, legislation, teaching materials, and reports." Coverage from 1984 to the present.Handbook of Latin American Studies
"The Handbook is a bibliography on Latin America consisting of works selected and annotated by scholars. Edited by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress, the multidisciplinary Handbook alternates annually between the social sciences and the humanities. Each year, more than 130 academics from around the world choose over 5,000 works for inclusion in the Handbook. Continuously published since 1935, the Handbook offers Latin Americanists an essential guide to available resources."Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
“Hispanic American Periodicals Index cites articles published in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish from more the 400 scholarly journals worldwide. Journals indexed are selected by an international panel of librarians and scholars.” Subject coverage includes anthropology, archaeology, art, commerce and trade, drama, drug trade, economic development, environmental issues, ethnography, folklore, history, indigenous affairs, literature, politics and government, social movements, and more. Coverage begins in 1970 and continues through the present. Print copies are available at the Central Reference and Loan Services, call number Z1605 .H673.JSTOR
Electronic archive of scholarly journal literature, this database allows various journals from different disciplines to be searched at once. Individual journal contents can also be searched. Includes journal articles in the areas of African American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, General Science, History, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Sociology, and Statistics. Provides full-text articles. Coverage varies by individual title.RLG Union Catalog
“A comprehensive database which serves as a major union catalog for everything from books and serials to archives, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, photographs, posters, computer files, and more. The catalog extends from the advent of printing to the present, reflecting the collections of major research and academic libraries; archives and museums; law, medical, and theological libraries; art and music libraries; area studies and collections; public and corporate libraries; historical societies and book clubs.”Readers’ Guide Abstracts (Wilson)
“Includes citations and abstracts for articles from over 250 of the popular English language periodicals. Covers general interests such as current events, business, fashion, politics, crafts, food, education, sports, history, and science.” Coverage begins September 1984 and continues through the present.
The following list provides URLs and brief descriptions of Web sites that focus on the U.S.-Mexico border—the people, the history, the issues, and various other areas of information coverage.
The South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection (University of Texas at Austin)Digitized collection of photographs by border photographer, Robert Runyon. Photographs focus on the Lower Rio Grande Valley: the history and development of South Texas and the border region, the Mexican Revolution, the growth and development of the Rio Grande Valley, and the U.S. military presence at Ft. Brown and along the border prior to, and during, World War I. The site is searchable and includes biographical information on Robert Runyon.Border Studies: Texas-Mexico Border
Humanities exhibit organized by the Texas Humanities Resource Center: features 36 photographic studies of people and places along the Texas-Mexico border; prefaced by a series of maps showing the shift in border from 1700 to the present.The Borderlands Encyclopedia: A Digital Educational Resource on Contemporary United States-Mexico Border Issues
Divided into sections that provide Internet resources, links to visual / audio sources, book reviews, etc. Sections are: Culture and Media, Economics and Business, Education and Training, Family Life and Population Groups, Government and Politics, and Health and Environment.Frontera Norte Sur
“Provides online news and analysis of current issues and events in the Paso del Norte region and the U.S.-Mexico border.” Includes information on commerce, border crossing statistics, education, the environment, health, human rights, immigration, politics, security, etc. Searchable archives available.Borderlines
Monthly bulletin that provides “in-depth, critical analysis of U.S.-Mexico border issues and the cross-border U.S.-Mexico relationship.” Each issue focuses on one specific topic. Past topics have included: housing on the border, colonias, the environment, pollution, native communities, water conflict, human rights, and farmworkers. Issues are available on-line, in PDF format, from October 1992 to the most current issue.The Farmworkers Website
Provides historical and current information, including a fact sheet and statistics, on the U.S.-Mexico border region (El Paso del Norte) and border farmworkers. Issues covered include the Bracero Program, living conditions, the chilé industry (where the majority of border farmworkers are employed), and the use of pesticides. The site also includes information on the Border Agricultural Workers Project, an organization working to assist farmworkers in improving their wages and their working and living conditions.LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center): U.S.-Mexico Border Links
Provides links to regional resources, academic sites, and sites providing information on colonias and housing, the economy, environmental issues, health issues, etc., in the U.S.-Mexico border region.Border Information and Outreach Service (BIOS)
Searchable online library with more than 1,300 border and U.S.-Mexico related publications; also includes bibliographies, internet information and Websites, and listings of groups and organizations.ISLA (Information Services Latin America): Focus on the Mexico-U.S. Border
Provides articles, links, and bibliographies on the history and background of the U.S.-Mexico border, labor strikes and border unrest, maquiladoras, environmental issues, indigenous migrant workers and pesticides, border art, and more. ISLA is a “professional news and reference guide” that serves the “information needs of academic institutions and non-profit advocacy, activist and educational organizations throughout the Americas.”The Border
Web site for the PBS documentary, The Border—a series of six stories about life on the U.S.-Mexico border. Includes an overview of the documentary, and supplementary information including an interactive timeline of the history of the border and U.S.-Mexico relations, a morphing map of the border, a related readings list, and links to related Web sites.
Migrations in History: United States-Mexico Borderlands / Frontera
The Smithsonian Institution’s Web site exploring “the nature and complexity of the movement of peoples, cultures, ideas, and objects.” Focuses on the border as a unique location that has produced a culture and environment distinct from other geographical areas.New Mexico State University Library: Border and Latin American Information
Provides links to major databases for Latin American and border research, Internet resources, and U.S.-Mexico border information.BIOS Publications: Articles, Books, Reports, and Government Documents
Extensive bibliography of articles, books, reports, government documents, and other documents related to U.S.-Mexico border issues. The list is also available by topic and by year of publication.The University of Texas System Digital Libraries: Border Cultures Collection Project
Provides digitized documents, photographs, manuscripts, video and audio recordings, and exhibits depicting the cultures that have developed along the Mexico-Texas border. Includes links to bibliographies, entertainment Web sites, photography exhibits, and other sources.
The U.S.-Mexico Border, 1820s-1990s: A Social, Economic and Political History of the Borderlands
Course Web page from UC Berkeley; provides various resource links from the U.S. and Mexico focusing on the borderlands, NAFTA, and U.S.-Mexico border issue in individual states (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California).Border Culturas: Conjunto Music
Provides information on the history, cultural significance, and artistry of the conjunto music from the Mexico-U.S. border region. Includes essays, photo exhibits, music excerpts on Real Audio, liner notes, and information on the Arhoolie Records label.
Compiled by Celia C. Perez
Smithsonian Institution Libraries Intern
University of South Florida
School of Library and Information Science
Summer 2000