Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Voices of the U.S. Latino Experience, edited by Rodolfo F. Acuña and Guadalupe Compeán. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 3 vols. 1256 pp. ISBN: 978-0-313-34020-8. $299.95.

This collection of primary and secondary-source documents covers a vast sweep of time, from 1648 to 2007, offering teachers and students an opportunity to explore the complex relations between the United States and Latino cultures and to study the diverse role that Latinos have had in United States history and today. The collection is divided into 21 sections, each covering a distinct span of time and following an overarching theme. Brief introductions provide context to each section. Suggested readings and Web sites complete the thorough yet accessible summary of historical background, facilitating further research. The documents included, selected according to the degree of contact between the United States and the particular Latin American nation, allow readers to view history from a fresh angle, as well as to have a chance to practice the historian’s job of critically analyzing documents in order to better understand their historical significance. Sources include letters, memoirs, treaties and testimonies, among others. Opportunities abound for cross-curricular projects—students could read, for example, the interview with Antonio Murrieta in which he describes the portrayal of his ancestor, Joaquin Murrieta, as a “gringo killer” and bandit and expresses his wishes both for a more accurate understanding of Murrieta’s role as a social activist as well as for better overall relations between Mexicans and North Americans. Groups could then research the facts on both sides of the topic, learn how to design an effective interview and produce an interactive response of their own that depicts their understanding of the complex border issues addressed in that portion of the collection. Other documents also offer intriguing possibilities: A letter from the Cuban poet José Martí, written the day before he was killed, expresses his fears of American imperialism; excerpts from an American diplomat’s memoirs describe his time in Haiti and the Dominican Republic under U.S. occupation; a Mexican steel worker testifies about his injuries and the deaths of 10 others during a Depression-era demonstration. A timeline of U.S. Latino history and a general index round out the set. Recommended for high school, public and college libraries with Latino collections.