Few realize that long before the political activism of the 1960s, there existed a broad social movement in the United States spearheaded by a generation of Mexican immigrants inspired by the revolution in their homeland. Many revolutionaries eschewed U.S. citizenship and have thus far been lost to history, though they have much to teach us about the increasingly international world of today. John H. Flores follows this revolutionary generation of Mexican immigrants and the transnational movements they created in the United States. Through a careful, detailed study of Chicagoland, the area in and around Chicago, Flores examines how competing immigrant organizations raised funds, joined labor unions and churches, engaged the Spanish-language media, and appealed in their own ways to the dignity and unity of other Mexicans. Painting portraits of liberals and radicals, who drew support from the Mexican government, and conservatives, who found a homegrown American ally in the Roman Catholic Church, Flores recovers a complex and little known political world shaped by events south of the U.S border.| Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Mexican Revolution Migrates to Chicago 2. The Counterrevolution Migrates to Chicago and Northwest Indiana 3. Mexican Immigrant Understandings of Empire, Race, and Gender 4. The Rise of the Postrevolution Mexican Left in Chicago 5. Mexican Radicals and Traditionalists Unionize Workers in the United States 6. The Cold War and the Decline of the Revolutionary Generation Conclusion Appendix: On Naturalization Records Notes Bibliography Index |"The Mexican Revolution in Chicago offers a unique transnational perspective on Mexican Chicago that will inspire more comparative research on other U.S. Mexican communities with diverse political traditions." —Journal of American History
"A timely contribution to Chicanx history." —Reviews in American History
"Flores uncovers a rich history of transnational social activism among Chicagoland's Mexican immigrant revolutionary generation. His in-depth study provides a nuanced interpretation of the political activities of Mexican immigrants who resided neither solely in Mexico nor the United States, a subject often elided by researchers." —Pacific Historical Review
|John H. Flores is an assistant professor of history at Case Western Reserve University.