Documenting a Mexican American Community: The Houston Example

Abstract

The Mexican American population is one of the most significant minority groups in the nation, yet archivists and historians have been negligent in documenting its development. The Mexican American community in Houston, Texas, has been developing for one hundred years and today may well number as many as five hundred thousand people. Since 1978, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) of Houston Public Library has been addressing this situation by systematically building a collection of materials relative to the history of Houston's Mexican American populace. These materials include the papers of prominent Mexican American Houstonians, Mexican American families, as well as local Chicano organizations and institutions. Additionally, HMRC has established a supplementary oral history project especially designed for its Mexican American community. To implement this collection strategy, HMRC staff members have actively built a local support network and have become involved in public outreach. As one of the few such programs in the United States, HMRC's Mexican American project could serve as an example for other appropriate institutions dealing with the heritage of this important ethnic group.