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- Today, we are pleased to 
introduce Sergio Gonzalez

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as part of the Wisconsin 
Historical Museum's

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History Sandwiched In 
lecture series.

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The opinions expressed today 
are those of the presenters,

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and are not necessarily those

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of the Wisconsin 
Historical Society

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or the museum's employees.

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Sergio M Gonzalez is 
a doctoral candidate

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in the Department of History

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at the University of 
Wisconsin Madison.

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His research and teaching 
interests include labor,

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working class, and 
immigration history.

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His primary research 
focuses on the development

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of Latino communities 
in urban areas

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in the American Midwest 
with an emphasis

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on the religious communities 
Latino immigrants developed

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in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
throughout the 20th century.

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His article, 
"Interethnic Catholicism

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"in the Transnational 
Religious Connection:

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"Milwaukee's Mexican 
Mission Chapel

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"of Our Lady Guadalupe, 
1924-1929"

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will appear in the upcoming 
winter edition

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of the Journal of 
American Ethnic History,

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and he is currently completing 
a book manuscript entitled,

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"Mexicans in Wisconsin"

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for the Wisconsin 
Historical Society Press.

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So if you could 
all please join me

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in welcoming Sergio Gonzalez.

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(audience applauding)

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- Buenas tardes. 
- [Audience] Buenas tardes.

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- Ah, buenas tardes, all right.

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That's the extent of 
the Spanish for the day

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for those of you who thought 
it'd be bilingual some.

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Well, a little 
bit more mixed in.

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Thank you all for 
being here today.

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It's a beautiful day outside,

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and I know it took a little 
bit of effort probably

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to come out from the sunshine 
and spend an hour in here,

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so thank you for being here.

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We're gonna spend the 
majority of our time today

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in the 1920s, which is where 
the story of Los Primeros,

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Milwaukee's first Mexican 
community, takes place.

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But before we go back 
nearly a hundred years,

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I'd actually like to 
start with an event

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that happened this year.

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Raise your hand if you're 
familiar with the events

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of February 18th of 2016.

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Okay, so quite a few of you.

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So for those of 
you who don't know,

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El Dia Sin Latinos occurred 
on February 18, 2016,

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when over 20,000 people, 
including immigrants,

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their native born 
sons and daughters,

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and their allies 
took to the streets,

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here around the Capitol, and 
then eventually inside of it,

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to protest what they 
believed to be anti-immigrant

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and truly anti-Latino 
legislation.

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And they were protesting 
specifically two bills.

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The first was AB450, 
Assembly Bill 450,

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which would have 
allowed police officers

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to question anyone 
they suspected

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of committing a crime about 
their immigration status

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and then detaining 
them for deportation

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if they thought they 
were here undocumented.

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The second bill that the 
people were protesting

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on that day was Senate Bill 369,

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which eventually did pass,

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and that one blocks 
counties statewide

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from issuing local IDs

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to people who can't 
access state versions.

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What we saw on 
February 18th was part

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of a multi-year process of 
anti-immigrant legislation

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that really kind of first 
started in Arizona with SB1070,

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and we've seen pop up throughout 
the American Southwest,

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the American South,

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and parts of the 
American Midwest as well.

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However, the collective 
action of the people that day,

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the 20,000 people-plus 
that stormed the Capitol,

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successfully defeated 
the more kind of odious

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of the two proposed 
bills, AB450,

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and also brought to 
light the growing power

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of the state's Latino community.

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Now, for many Wisconsinites,

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this may have been 
the first time

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that they've caught a 
glimpse of so many Latinos

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in their state.

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And they may have even 
considered this kind of,

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an anomaly, and abnormality,

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and they might've thought, 
how did this happen?

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How could there be so many 
Latinos in this state?

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I've traveled 
throughout the country,

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and when I tell 
them where I'm from,

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and I tell them that my parents 
are both Mexican immigrants,

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the first thing that 
I'm invariably asked is,

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I didn't know there were 
Latinos in Wisconsin.

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(audience laughing)

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They may have mistakenly 
thought this community

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was a new one, and in some 
ways they would be correct.

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Latino's share in the state's 
overall population has grown

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from about 2% in 1990,

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to 3.5% in 2000,

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to 6.3% in 2013.

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The Latino community,

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and specifically the 
Mexican community,

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which is the focus 
of our talk today,

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however, has a 
history in this state

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that reaches back 
over a hundred years.

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And interestingly enough, the 
anti-immigrant legislation

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and this kind of 
anti-immigrant atmosphere

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that led to the 
development of these bills,

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also reaches back 
over a hundred years

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in this state's history.

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The response from 
the Latino community,

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as you might imagine, also 
goes back to those time

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of Los Primeros, the first 
Mexicans who came to this state.

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So what I'd like to do today is

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to give us a brief 
introduction to that history,

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drawing from some 
of the research

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that I've done for 
my dissertation and 
for my upcoming book.

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And we're going to learn a 
little bit about Los Primeros,

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Spanish for the first, 
primero is first.

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The original pioneers 
who came from Mexico

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to establish roots and make 
the first Mexican community

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in Milwaukee.

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In order to give the protest

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that occurred this year 
a little bit of context

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and, perhaps, open 
discussion afterwards

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for where our state's Latino 
community might be going,

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moving forward.

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I'm gonna go back farther 
than Los Primeros,

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before 1920s though, 
to introduce you

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to an important figure,

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a man who kinda has 
a singular place

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in Wisconsin's history.

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And so this man actually 
predates the establishment

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of Milwaukee's first 
Mexican community.

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His name is Raphael Baez.

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Raphael Baez was born in 
Puebla, Mexico, in 1863,

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and he actually came 
to Wisconsin in 1886.

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His story is very 
different from the stories

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of Los Primeros who 
came in the 1920s

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for a number of 
different reasons.

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Number one, he was recruited 
to come to the United States

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as a classically 
trained musician.

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He was actually living in 
Mexico City at the time

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that the was found by the 
CD Hess Opera Company,

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a national American 
opera company,

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and he was a classically 
trained violinist.

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He was recruited to come 
to the United States

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to perform music.

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And so in 1886, he came 
to the United States,

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and he settled in Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, of all places.

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And he was a composer.

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He was an organist and 
music and choir director

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for churches and synagogues 
throughout the city

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of Milwaukee.

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He was also a tutor 
and a professor.

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We can actually 
count him as being

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the first Latino professor 
at Marquette College,

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now Marquette 
University, in 1892.

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And he was also respected 
and active member

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of the city's civic scene.

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He was a member of 
the Jefferson Club.

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And for you political fans, 
at the turn of the century,

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the Jefferson Club was 
the most important,

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Democratic party 
organization in the state.

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He was actually on 
the music committee

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for the Jefferson Club, 
maybe helping set the music

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for the political 
party, I don't know.

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His story, as I said, 
though, was atypical

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from that of the stories 
we're going to hear

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for the rest of today's talk.

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He was a highly skilled, highly 
educated in classical music.

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He was recruited here to 
come to serve in these number

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of different positions 
as a director of choirs,

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and as an organist.

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And probably most important, 
as you'll see today,

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he also gained a pretty 
fairly well respected position

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in the state's community,

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and, specifically, in 
Milwaukee's community.

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The majority of the 
early Mexican immigrants,

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however, that came 
after Baez in the 1910s,

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didn't come as classically 
trained musicians,

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and they didn't come 
to work as composers.

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The majority of 
them came to work

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in the state's 
agricultural industries,

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many arriving by 
way either of Mexico

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or by state's in the southwest, 
in the American southwest.

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Employers in Wisconsin in 
the sugar beet industry

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were actually the first 
to recruit large numbers

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of Mexicans in the 1910s,

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and they called these workers 
[speaking in Spanish],

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which is someone 
who picks beets,

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in larges numbers 
to fill positions

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that had formerly been 
held by Germans, Belgians,

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and Russians in the 
state's beet fields.

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And Mexican who came to 
Wisconsin in the 1910s came

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to work all over the state.

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We have reports of them 
working in Green Bay,

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and Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh 
throughout the 1910s.

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And they actually had 
their largest concentration

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in those first two decades 
of the 20th century

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in Waukesha and the 
surrounding area,

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where they worked both 
in agriculture as well as

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for companies like 
International Harvester,

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the Werra Aluminum Foundry, 
the Waukesha Foundry,

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and General Casting Company.

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This early Mexican migration 
and immigration, however,

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to the state was pretty minimal,

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as groups of 10s or 20s, and 
many times they didn't stay

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for too long and they 
went back to Mexico.

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It wasn't really until the 1920s

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that we saw the first big growth

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of Wisconsin's 
Mexican community.

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And to kind of understand 
how it is that Mexicans came

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to arrive to Milwaukee 
in the 1920s,

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we have to get a little bit

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of immigration and 
political history.

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So I hope you can keep 
up with me, and if not,

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raise your hand, and we'll 
try to fill in the spots.

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So the settlement of Los 
Primeros in Milwaukee was

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in many ways 
facilitated by changes

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in national immigration law.

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At the national level 
throughout the first two decades

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of the 20th century, federal 
legislators were wrestling

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with fundamental questions

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of how immigration helped shape 
the character of the nation.

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And when I saw character, I 
mean a few different things.

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Federal legislators, 
and social commentators,

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considered questions of how 
immigrants shaped the cultural,

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the linguistic, the religious,

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and the racial character of 
citizens of the United States.

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So this is a story that some 
of you might be familiar with.

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Rapidly increasing 
numbers of immigrants

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from southern and 
eastern Europe arriving

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in the United States at 
the turn of the century

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were the reason that a 
lot of these questions

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were coming up.

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And with more and 
more immigrants

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from these countries 
settling in urban centers

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like Milwaukee, questions 
of who was an American,

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and what qualified someone 
for becoming an American,

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occupied the minds of many.

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So drawing upon nativists, 
xenophobic concerns

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of increasing number of 
hyphenated Americans,

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Irish-American, German-American, 
Italian-American,

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in other words, people 
who define themselves

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by dual ethnicities or dual 
understandings of their identity

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in the years 
following World War I,

249
00:09:55,466 --> 00:09:58,200
federal legislators came 
to define who was desirable

250
00:09:58,333 --> 00:10:00,366
for entry into the United States

251
00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:02,933
upon racial and ethnic 
distinctions in order

252
00:10:03,066 --> 00:10:05,800
to better maintain a 
national American character

253
00:10:05,933 --> 00:10:08,000
and a national 
American identity.

254
00:10:08,133 --> 00:10:10,200
And so Congress passed 
two pieces of legislation

255
00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:12,466
that radically altered 
the face of immigration

256
00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,000
for the ensuing four decades,

257
00:10:14,133 --> 00:10:17,866
and that's the map you see 
on the right over here.

258
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,166
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921,

259
00:10:20,300 --> 00:10:24,000
and then followed by the 
Immigration Act of 1924,

260
00:10:24,133 --> 00:10:25,800
drastically limited the 
number of immigrants

261
00:10:25,933 --> 00:10:27,533
from southern and 
eastern Europe,

262
00:10:27,666 --> 00:10:30,600
and curbed all 
immigration from Asia.

263
00:10:30,733 --> 00:10:33,566
Suddenly stopping this 
immigration flow, however,

264
00:10:33,700 --> 00:10:36,600
caused a major headache, and 
problem for business owners.

265
00:10:36,733 --> 00:10:38,433
Ending immigration from 
those parts of Europe

266
00:10:38,566 --> 00:10:41,966
was basically shutting 
off the spigot,

267
00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:45,833
turning off all sources of 
labor for their businesses.

268
00:10:45,966 --> 00:10:49,133
And so in the build up to the 
passage of these two laws,

269
00:10:49,266 --> 00:10:51,400
growers and industrialists 
throughout the United States,

270
00:10:51,533 --> 00:10:53,466
and specifically 
agriculturalists,

271
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,766
demanded access from 
Congress to importable labor

272
00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:00,533
that would be inexpensive and 
that would be easily accessed.

273
00:11:00,666 --> 00:11:02,733
And so thanks to lobbying 
from these business interests,

274
00:11:02,866 --> 00:11:05,166
Congress decided to 
solve the problem

275
00:11:05,300 --> 00:11:08,133
by exempting all immigrants 
from the western hemisphere.

276
00:11:08,266 --> 00:11:09,900
So that'd be Canada.

277
00:11:10,033 --> 00:11:12,400
You can imagine that's not 
really what they had in mind,

278
00:11:12,533 --> 00:11:14,200
specifically Latin America.

279
00:11:14,333 --> 00:11:16,933
And so those two areas, the 
entire western hemisphere,

280
00:11:17,066 --> 00:11:18,933
Canada and all of Latin 
America was exempted

281
00:11:19,066 --> 00:11:20,566
from these quotas.

282
00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:23,066
And due to Mexico's proximity 
to the United States,

283
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,966
legislators argued 
that Mexican immigrants

284
00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:28,333
would be less likely to 
attempt to permanently remain

285
00:11:28,466 --> 00:11:29,866
in the country.

286
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,133
They said, well, look, 
Mexico's right down the way,

287
00:11:31,266 --> 00:11:32,566
they'll come and do their work,

288
00:11:32,700 --> 00:11:34,033
and then they'll head 
back when they're done.

289
00:11:34,166 --> 00:11:36,000
And, thus, they would 
pose a minimal threat

290
00:11:36,133 --> 00:11:38,300
to national cultural 
and racial homogeneity,

291
00:11:38,433 --> 00:11:40,233
to this idea of an 
American identity

292
00:11:40,366 --> 00:11:42,466
or an American character.

293
00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:44,533
The popular term for 
immigrants coming from Mexico

294
00:11:44,666 --> 00:11:47,533
at the time was this 
idea of birds of passage.

295
00:11:47,666 --> 00:11:49,766
Right, you know how a 
bird migrates according

296
00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:51,266
to the seasons.

297
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,166
And so legislators argued 
that Mexicans would come

298
00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:55,733
to work as temporary 
migrants during peak levels

299
00:11:55,866 --> 00:11:58,800
of employment, considered 
when the planting season

300
00:11:58,933 --> 00:12:00,233
and the harvesting season,

301
00:12:00,366 --> 00:12:02,200
and then they would 
return home to Mexico

302
00:12:02,333 --> 00:12:04,100
when they were no longer needed.

303
00:12:04,233 --> 00:12:05,500
So during the 1920s,

304
00:12:05,633 --> 00:12:07,500
because of this changes 
in immigration law,

305
00:12:07,633 --> 00:12:10,400
about 50 to 100,000 Mexican 
immigrants made their way

306
00:12:10,533 --> 00:12:11,966
to the United States annually.

307
00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:14,100
This is a dramatic jump.

308
00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:16,733
Milwaukee companies 
were not immune

309
00:12:16,866 --> 00:12:18,600
to the changes in 
immigration law.

310
00:12:18,733 --> 00:12:20,900
Faced with declining 
immigration from Europe,

311
00:12:21,033 --> 00:12:23,966
and increased industrial 
needs following World War I,

312
00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:26,666
many Milwaukee companies 
looked south for new workers,

313
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,000
both for African American 
workers in the US south,

314
00:12:29,133 --> 00:12:31,333
but also, more importantly 
for our discussion today,

315
00:12:31,466 --> 00:12:34,166
recruiting laborers of 
Mexican descent from Mexico

316
00:12:34,300 --> 00:12:36,000
and the American southwest.

317
00:12:36,133 --> 00:12:38,500
So here's what 
companies would do.

318
00:12:38,633 --> 00:12:41,166
Companies would send down what 
were known as enganchistas.

319
00:12:41,300 --> 00:12:43,166
Enganchista means 
someone who hooks.

320
00:12:43,300 --> 00:12:45,100
Enganchar means to 
hook or to grab.

321
00:12:45,233 --> 00:12:46,733
And these were labor recruiters.

322
00:12:46,866 --> 00:12:48,700
So they would send them down 
either to the border region

323
00:12:48,833 --> 00:12:50,333
or directly into Mexico.

324
00:12:50,466 --> 00:12:53,133
And these Enganchistas, 
they promised Mexican men,

325
00:12:53,266 --> 00:12:55,066
many of them who were 
single and young,

326
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:56,600
they promised them the 
opportunity to travel

327
00:12:56,733 --> 00:12:59,766
to the United States to 
find stable employment.

328
00:12:59,900 --> 00:13:01,600
And so these labor 
recruiters went down

329
00:13:01,733 --> 00:13:02,933
to a number of states,

330
00:13:03,066 --> 00:13:04,633
specifically to the 
central parts of Mexico.

331
00:13:04,766 --> 00:13:06,100
So they went to 
states in Mexico,

332
00:13:06,233 --> 00:13:09,033
including Guanajuato, 
Aguascalientes, Michoacan,

333
00:13:09,166 --> 00:13:11,233
Zacatecas, Nuevo 
Leon, and Jalisco,

334
00:13:11,366 --> 00:13:14,133
which is actually where 
both of my parents are from.

335
00:13:14,266 --> 00:13:15,566
These men would sign contracts,

336
00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:17,633
and they were usually 
limited term contracts.

337
00:13:17,766 --> 00:13:20,166
So they'd say you can 
come to work to Wisconsin

338
00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:22,766
for six months to a year, and 
then your contract expires

339
00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:24,300
and you'll head back.

340
00:13:24,433 --> 00:13:26,700
But here was the rub, 
here was the problem.

341
00:13:26,833 --> 00:13:28,133
These contracts were 
often in English.

342
00:13:28,266 --> 00:13:29,733
They weren't translated 
into Spanish.

343
00:13:29,866 --> 00:13:31,666
And what the workers 
were not told in Mexico

344
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,300
when they were signing 
these contracts

345
00:13:33,433 --> 00:13:35,633
is that they were actually 
being recruited as scabs

346
00:13:35,766 --> 00:13:37,033
to come up to Wisconsin

347
00:13:37,166 --> 00:13:40,033
to help replace the 
unionized workforce.

348
00:13:40,166 --> 00:13:42,100
Now, for those of you who 
know Milwaukee's history,

349
00:13:42,233 --> 00:13:45,000
Milwaukee has a rich 
and long union history.

350
00:13:45,133 --> 00:13:48,000
Milwaukee was a stronghold 
of labor power throughout

351
00:13:48,133 --> 00:13:49,400
the turn of the century,

352
00:13:49,533 --> 00:13:52,000
and up really until 
pretty recently.

353
00:13:52,133 --> 00:13:53,700
And so I'll give 
you one example.

354
00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:55,133
On the left over there

355
00:13:55,266 --> 00:13:56,966
is one of the Pfister 
& Vogel tannery sites.

356
00:13:57,100 --> 00:13:59,566
Anyone familiar with 
Pfister & Vogel tannery?

357
00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:02,233
All right, so Pfister & 
Vogel, in the spring of 1920,

358
00:14:02,366 --> 00:14:04,733
they sent down their 
enganchistas, their 
labor recruiters,

359
00:14:04,866 --> 00:14:06,633
to Mexico in the 
midst of a strike

360
00:14:06,766 --> 00:14:09,100
that we initiated by the 
Polish and Slavic workers.

361
00:14:09,233 --> 00:14:12,533
And they recruited trains 
full of Mexican men to come

362
00:14:12,666 --> 00:14:15,033
to Wisconsin, to 
come to Milwaukee.

363
00:14:15,166 --> 00:14:17,700
These men were of course 
hoping to find stable work,

364
00:14:17,833 --> 00:14:20,233
and instead they were 
greeted at the train depot

365
00:14:20,366 --> 00:14:22,966
by striking workers who 
were ready to kill them.

366
00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:25,166
So you can imagine the 
type of tone that set

367
00:14:25,300 --> 00:14:28,633
for these two communities 
from the onset.

368
00:14:28,766 --> 00:14:31,066
Pfister & Vogel management 
obviously was worried

369
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:32,433
about protecting 
their investment.

370
00:14:32,566 --> 00:14:34,333
They paid a lot of money 
to send labor recruiters

371
00:14:34,466 --> 00:14:36,066
down to Mexico to 
grab these workers,

372
00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:37,600
and they were afraid 
of retaliation

373
00:14:37,733 --> 00:14:39,166
on behalf of Polish 
and Slavic workers.

374
00:14:39,300 --> 00:14:41,333
So what they actually did is

375
00:14:41,466 --> 00:14:44,033
that they didn't let the Mexican 
workers leave the factory.

376
00:14:44,166 --> 00:14:46,266
They actually put up cots 
inside the factory walls,

377
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,800
and they made the Mexican 
men sleep inside the factory

378
00:14:48,933 --> 00:14:51,200
for fear that if they 
left the building,

379
00:14:51,333 --> 00:14:52,533
they would meet trouble

380
00:14:52,666 --> 00:14:55,600
with the city's European 
origin communities.

381
00:14:55,733 --> 00:14:58,433
And so it got so bad 
that the Pfister & Vogel

382
00:14:58,566 --> 00:15:00,166
tannery company actually 
hired instructors

383
00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:03,400
from the YMCA to come in and 
do classes and do recreation,

384
00:15:03,533 --> 00:15:05,300
so that the Mexican 
men wouldn't get bored

385
00:15:05,433 --> 00:15:06,633
in their off-hours

386
00:15:06,766 --> 00:15:09,966
So this was the 
opening introduction

387
00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:12,266
of Mexican workers to Milwaukee.

388
00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:13,866
They're scabs.

389
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,600
They're here to take our jobs.

390
00:15:15,733 --> 00:15:18,733
You've probably heard 
some of that before.

391
00:15:18,866 --> 00:15:20,766
Soon, other Milwaukee 
companies followed the lead

392
00:15:20,900 --> 00:15:22,300
of the Pfister & 
Vogel tannery company.

393
00:15:22,433 --> 00:15:25,066
So the Bucyrus Company, 
Harnischfeger Company,

394
00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:26,666
the Ladish Company, 
Allis-Chalmers,

395
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,200
England Steel, 
Northwestern Coke,

396
00:15:29,333 --> 00:15:30,933
and then railroads 
like the Milwaukee Road

397
00:15:31,066 --> 00:15:33,433
and the Northwestern Railroads 
sent labor recruiters

398
00:15:33,566 --> 00:15:38,133
down to get Mexican workers 
to come to the United States.

399
00:15:38,266 --> 00:15:41,700
Well, as worker 
recruitment for Mexico grew

400
00:15:41,833 --> 00:15:44,866
across the country, 
Americans soon realized

401
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,833
that this promise from 
federal legislators

402
00:15:46,966 --> 00:15:50,333
and industrial owners of 
Mexican simply being birds

403
00:15:50,466 --> 00:15:52,866
of passage was an empty promise.

404
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,200
You can imagine, if you 
come to the United States

405
00:15:55,333 --> 00:15:56,633
and you find stable work,

406
00:15:56,766 --> 00:15:58,200
regardless of the 
discrimination you might find,

407
00:15:58,333 --> 00:16:00,300
you find stable work 
and good paying jobs,

408
00:16:00,433 --> 00:16:02,266
you might decide to stay 
here to help better provide

409
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:03,900
for yourself and 
for your family.

410
00:16:04,033 --> 00:16:06,733
And so as more Mexican 
immigrants decided to settle

411
00:16:06,866 --> 00:16:09,066
in the United States and 
not go back to Mexico,

412
00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,033
not kind of fulfill this 
idea of the birds of passage,

413
00:16:12,166 --> 00:16:15,100
questions of assimilation 
and racial acceptability,

414
00:16:15,233 --> 00:16:16,766
once again, rose 
to the forefront

415
00:16:16,900 --> 00:16:18,566
of conversations 
regarding immigration,

416
00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:22,800
except this time it 
wasn't Europe, it was 
focused on Mexico.

417
00:16:22,933 --> 00:16:24,300
And so Americans debated whether

418
00:16:24,433 --> 00:16:26,566
the country's new immigrants 
could be integrated

419
00:16:26,700 --> 00:16:28,100
into American society,

420
00:16:28,233 --> 00:16:30,266
or if they should be 
excluded once again

421
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,100
to protect national identity.

422
00:16:32,233 --> 00:16:33,933
And these questions were 
definitely on the mind

423
00:16:34,066 --> 00:16:38,366
of Milwaukeeans throughout 
the 1920s and early 1930s.

424
00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:39,733
Besides settling in one

425
00:16:39,866 --> 00:16:41,366
of the most ethnically 
heterogeneous,

426
00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:44,066
one of the most ethnically 
diverse places in the country,

427
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:45,566
Milwaukee, the 
city of Milwaukee,

428
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:46,833
Mexican workers experienced

429
00:16:46,966 --> 00:16:48,966
a much different 
settlement experience

430
00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:50,766
from that of European 
origin immigrants.

431
00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:52,366
Marked less by growing access

432
00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,733
to social and political power

433
00:16:54,866 --> 00:16:57,166
and marked more by 
ethno-racial discrimination,

434
00:16:57,300 --> 00:17:01,500
economic exclusion, 
and social isolation.

435
00:17:01,633 --> 00:17:03,400
So institutions across the city,

436
00:17:03,533 --> 00:17:06,100
and we're talking about 
the media, social services,

437
00:17:06,233 --> 00:17:08,800
and public schools, viewed 
Mexicans more as a problem

438
00:17:08,933 --> 00:17:13,100
to be solved than a community 
to be welcomed into the city.

439
00:17:14,266 --> 00:17:16,133
Numerous editorials from 
the Milwaukee Journals

440
00:17:16,266 --> 00:17:17,766
throughout the 1920s.

441
00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:19,666
Everyone knows the Milwaukee 
Journal Sentinel, right?

442
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,066
So in the 1920s,

443
00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,566
the Milwaukee Journal 
published editorials,

444
00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:25,400
advocating strongly 
for the expansion

445
00:17:25,533 --> 00:17:28,033
of these quotas that have 
been imposed on Europe

446
00:17:28,166 --> 00:17:30,400
to Latin American, 
specifically to Mexico.

447
00:17:30,533 --> 00:17:32,766
And I'm going to hold off 
on discussing a reading

448
00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:34,300
from them because, 
quite honestly,

449
00:17:34,433 --> 00:17:35,833
they're pretty 
disgusting editorials,

450
00:17:35,966 --> 00:17:37,433
but I'll just mention 
that they used terms

451
00:17:37,566 --> 00:17:39,933
like mongrel and half-breed 
when they refer to Mexicans

452
00:17:40,066 --> 00:17:43,666
and the reasons why quotas 
should be extended to the south.

453
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:45,000
I would like to turn, however,

454
00:17:45,133 --> 00:17:46,766
to a more comprehensive 
justification.

455
00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:48,966
Probably one of the longest 
reports that was prepared

456
00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:51,966
in Milwaukee advocating 
for the extension of quotas

457
00:17:52,100 --> 00:17:53,633
or at least to keep an eye

458
00:17:53,766 --> 00:17:55,700
on these Mexicans 
arriving in Milwaukee.

459
00:17:55,833 --> 00:17:58,333
And that comes from a 
1930 report prepared

460
00:17:58,466 --> 00:18:00,133
by the International Institute,

461
00:18:00,266 --> 00:18:04,933
which was a settlement 
agency organized by the YWCA.

462
00:18:05,066 --> 00:18:07,200
And this report was 
prepared by a social worker.

463
00:18:07,333 --> 00:18:08,600
Her name was Agnes Fenton,

464
00:18:08,733 --> 00:18:10,166
and Agnes Fenton 
surveyed members

465
00:18:10,300 --> 00:18:12,333
of the community on Milwaukee's 
south side where a lot

466
00:18:12,466 --> 00:18:13,766
of Mexicans were settling.

467
00:18:13,900 --> 00:18:16,333
And she interviewed 
police officers, teachers,

468
00:18:16,466 --> 00:18:18,500
and medical professionals.

469
00:18:18,633 --> 00:18:22,133
And here's what her final 
report asked Milwaukeeans.

470
00:18:22,266 --> 00:18:25,366
She asked Milwaukeeans, 
"Do you know how intimate

471
00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:29,166
"an American problem 
the Mexican has become?"

472
00:18:29,300 --> 00:18:31,666
Her report depicted an 
immigrant group that threatened

473
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,966
to disrupt the cultural and 
social character of the city.

474
00:18:35,100 --> 00:18:37,766
She portrayed Mexicans 
as lazy, uneducated,

475
00:18:37,900 --> 00:18:41,000
unscrupulous, and ultimately 
as being undesirable

476
00:18:41,133 --> 00:18:43,000
for integration as citizens.

477
00:18:43,133 --> 00:18:44,833
And she commented that 
this racial group,

478
00:18:44,966 --> 00:18:47,200
which she referred to 
constantly as peons,

479
00:18:47,333 --> 00:18:50,166
was darker skinned and 
of lower intelligence

480
00:18:50,300 --> 00:18:52,633
than Europeans who 
had proceeded them.

481
00:18:52,766 --> 00:18:55,366
Her findings marked 
Mexicans as racially

482
00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:58,100
and culturally 
non-white, as dangerous,

483
00:18:58,233 --> 00:19:00,600
and, thus, as being 
unworthy of integration.

484
00:19:00,733 --> 00:19:03,400
And through her conversation 
with city officials,

485
00:19:03,533 --> 00:19:05,166
she additionally stoked fears

486
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,400
of potential public 
safety concerns.

487
00:19:07,533 --> 00:19:08,966
So, reporting from conversations

488
00:19:09,100 --> 00:19:11,100
with the city's police officers,

489
00:19:11,233 --> 00:19:13,566
her survey stressed this 
inherent criminality

490
00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:15,166
among Mexican immigrants.

491
00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:16,700
And this is what she said,

492
00:19:16,833 --> 00:19:18,700
she said, quote, "The 
Mexican is law-abiding

493
00:19:18,833 --> 00:19:21,933
"as long as he knows 
he is being watched."

494
00:19:22,066 --> 00:19:25,266
She supported her report 
with so-called academic

495
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,466
and pseudo scientific 
articles by eugenicists,

496
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,366
who emphasized the 
quote-unquote "Indian character"

497
00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:34,233
of Mexicans as being a 
justification for exclusion

498
00:19:34,366 --> 00:19:37,500
in order to demonstrate 
their racial incompatibility.

499
00:19:37,633 --> 00:19:39,133
The report is long.

500
00:19:39,266 --> 00:19:41,000
It's multiple pages, and you 
can actually download a copy

501
00:19:41,133 --> 00:19:42,766
of it through the Wisconsin 
Historical Society.

502
00:19:42,900 --> 00:19:44,533
It's online.

503
00:19:44,666 --> 00:19:46,733
I recommend, if 
you're interested, 
to read more of kind of

504
00:19:46,866 --> 00:19:49,300
the attitudes at the time, you 
log on and you grab that.

505
00:19:49,433 --> 00:19:52,666
But I would like to end with 
one quote from Ms. Fenton

506
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,566
from that report.

507
00:19:54,700 --> 00:19:58,300
She said, quote, "While the 
social workers are afraid

508
00:19:58,433 --> 00:20:01,366
"that the peons will not mix 
with our native population,

509
00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:03,633
"the eugenists are 
afraid that they will.

510
00:20:03,766 --> 00:20:06,633
"It is certain 
that interbreeding 
cannot be prevented.

511
00:20:06,766 --> 00:20:08,700
"That might be 
considered a happy ending

512
00:20:08,833 --> 00:20:10,766
"if the quality of our 
racial stock was not lowered

513
00:20:10,900 --> 00:20:12,233
"in the process.

514
00:20:12,366 --> 00:20:15,000
"If the stock of the 
Mexican is as good as ours,

515
00:20:15,133 --> 00:20:17,333
"there can be no 
scientific objection,

516
00:20:17,466 --> 00:20:20,533
"but there are, 
however, competent and 
impartial observers

517
00:20:20,666 --> 00:20:22,833
"who consider the peon 
inferior to the whites,

518
00:20:22,966 --> 00:20:24,833
"both physically and mentally."

519
00:20:24,966 --> 00:20:26,800
You're getting a 
taste for the scene

520
00:20:26,933 --> 00:20:29,933
in Milwaukee in the 
1920s for Mexicans.

521
00:20:30,066 --> 00:20:32,333
Even beyond dealing with 
social services agencies

522
00:20:32,466 --> 00:20:34,100
like the International 
Institute,

523
00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:35,633
Mexicans face harsh prospects

524
00:20:35,766 --> 00:20:37,933
in finding their own 
spaces throughout Milwaukee

525
00:20:38,066 --> 00:20:42,066
that might not be marked by 
exclusion and by segregation.

526
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,966
Juana Danas, who arrived 
in Milwaukee in 1927,

527
00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:47,300
recalled in a 1974 interview

528
00:20:47,433 --> 00:20:49,033
that Mexicans weren't 
allowed inside

529
00:20:49,166 --> 00:20:50,866
the south side's Gem Theatre.

530
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:52,466
On the rare occasion 
that Mexicans attempted

531
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,933
to buy a ticket and 
enter the establishment,

532
00:20:55,066 --> 00:20:57,566
white patrons 
would run them out,

533
00:20:57,700 --> 00:20:59,366
they would yell 
racial slurs at them,

534
00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:02,200
and then they would 
physically assault them.

535
00:21:02,333 --> 00:21:04,300
Mexicans also learned to 
be weary of the police,

536
00:21:04,433 --> 00:21:05,900
of the city's police department,

537
00:21:06,033 --> 00:21:07,400
who would arrest 
Mexicans after dances

538
00:21:07,533 --> 00:21:09,733
on trumped up charges 
of drunkenness.

539
00:21:09,866 --> 00:21:12,166
And their interactions 
between Mexican men

540
00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:13,833
and European-American 
women also served

541
00:21:13,966 --> 00:21:15,300
as a point of contention.

542
00:21:15,433 --> 00:21:16,800
Remember that fear 
of miscegenation,

543
00:21:16,933 --> 00:21:19,333
of intermixing between races.

544
00:21:20,333 --> 00:21:23,033
Their interactions with Italian 
and Polish men usually led

545
00:21:23,166 --> 00:21:25,766
to confrontations 
in social settings.

546
00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:28,300
So Porfirio Gonzalez 
remembers socials

547
00:21:28,433 --> 00:21:30,300
at the Wisconsin 
Roof, which was a bar,

548
00:21:30,433 --> 00:21:32,666
a popular bar on 
the near south side,

549
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:34,933
where members of different 
European origin groups

550
00:21:35,066 --> 00:21:37,433
and Mexicans, quote-unquote 
(speaking foreign language),

551
00:21:37,566 --> 00:21:39,633
which means they got 
into fights over dances

552
00:21:39,766 --> 00:21:42,300
with European-American women.

553
00:21:42,433 --> 00:21:44,366
Despite discrimination, however,

554
00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:46,566
Mexicans continue to 
come to Milwaukee,

555
00:21:46,700 --> 00:21:51,333
and specifically in search of 
better economic opportunities.

556
00:21:51,466 --> 00:21:53,333
And the recruitment 
of one Mexican worker

557
00:21:53,466 --> 00:21:55,266
to the city typically 
led to the creation

558
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,800
of a chain migration,

559
00:21:56,933 --> 00:21:59,366
as those who successfully 
secured employment,

560
00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:01,900
sent word back home that there 
were better opportunities

561
00:22:02,033 --> 00:22:03,366
in Wisconsin.

562
00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:04,866
And eventually the recruitment

563
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,233
of single men as workers 
led to the arrival

564
00:22:07,366 --> 00:22:09,700
of entire families from Mexico.

565
00:22:09,833 --> 00:22:11,333
So through 1910,

566
00:22:11,466 --> 00:22:14,700
there were fewer than 50 
foreign-born Mexicans living

567
00:22:14,833 --> 00:22:16,233
in Milwaukee.

568
00:22:16,366 --> 00:22:20,600
By 1927, that number had 
risen to over 3,000 Mexicans,

569
00:22:20,733 --> 00:22:23,400
and by the end of that decade, 
that number was anywhere

570
00:22:23,533 --> 00:22:24,900
from 5 to 7,000.

571
00:22:25,033 --> 00:22:28,700
So the community really 
grew over those 10 years.

572
00:22:28,833 --> 00:22:30,166
Newly arrived Mexicans settled

573
00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:32,466
in neighborhoods nested 
around their workplaces

574
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,000
on the near south side.

575
00:22:34,133 --> 00:22:35,900
So a lot of them settled 
around the Walkers Point area,

576
00:22:36,033 --> 00:22:37,600
the River West area, 
and Merrill Park.

577
00:22:37,733 --> 00:22:39,700
And their neighbors 
many times included

578
00:22:39,833 --> 00:22:41,133
the more established 
ethnic communities

579
00:22:41,266 --> 00:22:43,000
of earlier German and 
Polish immigrants,

580
00:22:43,133 --> 00:22:45,500
but they were usually more 
recently arrived immigrants,

581
00:22:45,633 --> 00:22:49,066
like Norwegians, Czechs, 
Ukrainians, Greeks,

582
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,933
Bulgarians, Serbs, 
and Slovenians.

583
00:22:52,933 --> 00:22:55,166
Mexican children, this 
will be surprising to you

584
00:22:55,300 --> 00:22:57,300
after what we've heard, but 
Mexican children, of course,

585
00:22:57,433 --> 00:22:58,900
didn't have a 
great time arriving

586
00:22:59,033 --> 00:23:00,833
at the public schools 
in Milwaukee either.

587
00:23:00,966 --> 00:23:05,633
They caught themselves in what 
I called linguistic catch-22.

588
00:23:05,766 --> 00:23:07,833
Spanish-speaking students 
encountered resistance

589
00:23:07,966 --> 00:23:10,966
from public schoolteachers 
and administrators complaining

590
00:23:11,100 --> 00:23:13,633
that the city's newest 
immigrants weren't doing enough

591
00:23:13,766 --> 00:23:17,233
to integrate themselves 
into American society.

592
00:23:17,366 --> 00:23:19,533
How they would have 
done so, I'm not sure.

593
00:23:19,666 --> 00:23:21,033
The story of a young child

594
00:23:21,166 --> 00:23:23,033
who attended Vieau Elementary 
School demonstrates

595
00:23:23,166 --> 00:23:24,500
those difficulties.

596
00:23:24,633 --> 00:23:26,800
Like many Mexican children 
who came to Milwaukee

597
00:23:26,933 --> 00:23:29,700
in the 1920s, this student 
didn't speak any English,

598
00:23:29,833 --> 00:23:31,766
and he struggled to keep 
up with his American peers

599
00:23:31,900 --> 00:23:33,233
and his classes.

600
00:23:33,366 --> 00:23:36,166
In response to this 
child's difficulties,

601
00:23:36,300 --> 00:23:37,633
the child's teacher demanded

602
00:23:37,766 --> 00:23:40,866
that he return home 
until he learned English,

603
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,866
at which point he would 
be allowed back in class.

604
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,100
The educational experience

605
00:23:46,233 --> 00:23:48,400
of Mexican children 
differed greatly

606
00:23:48,533 --> 00:23:49,966
from those of German 
and Polish students

607
00:23:50,100 --> 00:23:51,700
in the late 19th and 
early 20th century.

608
00:23:51,833 --> 00:23:54,900
And there's quite a bit of 
irony in the situation here.

609
00:23:55,033 --> 00:23:58,033
European immigrants who had 
settled previously had fought

610
00:23:58,166 --> 00:24:00,466
for Milwaukee's public 
and parish schools

611
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,466
to use native language along 
with instruction in English,

612
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,600
elevating their own 
cultural linguistic heritage

613
00:24:06,733 --> 00:24:09,300
to the same as American 
and English standards.

614
00:24:09,433 --> 00:24:11,166
Milwaukee's schools, 
before the arrival

615
00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:13,566
of Mexicans to the city,

616
00:24:13,700 --> 00:24:15,466
at this point had a 
national reputation

617
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,000
for the progressive 
language immersion programs.

618
00:24:18,133 --> 00:24:20,200
But, of course, they 
didn't seem to extend

619
00:24:20,333 --> 00:24:22,466
that same sort of 
progressive idea

620
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,066
to the newly arrived 
Mexican immigrants.

621
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:27,333
These experiences, however,

622
00:24:27,466 --> 00:24:29,366
didn't deter early 
Milwaukee Mexicans

623
00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:32,100
from looking to create 
their own social, economic,

624
00:24:32,233 --> 00:24:34,066
and religious spaces.

625
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:35,666
Artur Morales,

626
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,633
one of the Pfister & Vogel 
company's earliest recruits,

627
00:24:37,766 --> 00:24:39,600
who had arrived in 
the early 1920s,

628
00:24:39,733 --> 00:24:42,766
managed to save and borrow 
the $2,000 he needed

629
00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:45,966
to open Milwaukee's first 
Mexican grocery store in 1925.

630
00:24:46,100 --> 00:24:49,933
And that is Artur Morales' 
store on the near south side.

631
00:24:50,066 --> 00:24:53,533
The Abila family also opened 
(speaking foreign language),

632
00:24:53,666 --> 00:24:56,133
which served as a grocery 
and a general store,

633
00:24:56,266 --> 00:24:58,833
a restaurant, and an 
importing location

634
00:24:58,966 --> 00:25:01,500
for peppers and herbs as 
well as kitchen goods,

635
00:25:01,633 --> 00:25:03,933
like la tamalina, which 
is used to make tortillas.

636
00:25:04,066 --> 00:25:06,200
You can imagine you weren't 
going to find la tamalina

637
00:25:06,333 --> 00:25:08,600
in random Milwaukee stores.

638
00:25:08,733 --> 00:25:09,966
The Abila's 
restaurant also served

639
00:25:10,100 --> 00:25:11,500
traditional Mexican dishes,

640
00:25:11,633 --> 00:25:14,533
like enchiladas, 
frijoles and chiles.

641
00:25:14,666 --> 00:25:18,400
Now, I've painted a 
pretty negative picture,

642
00:25:18,533 --> 00:25:21,266
you might say, of this 
settlement experience

643
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,866
for Milwaukee Mexicans, but 
I don't want you to think

644
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,866
that every single relationship 
that Milwaukee Mexicans

645
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,900
had with the general community 
was an antagonistic one.

646
00:25:30,033 --> 00:25:32,433
And so what I'd like to do 
is actually point towards one

647
00:25:32,566 --> 00:25:34,666
of the brightest spots for 
Milwaukee's Mexican community.

648
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,266
It's what my primary 
research looks at.

649
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,733
And that is the development 
of a religious home.

650
00:25:41,866 --> 00:25:43,700
Milwaukee Mexicans 
found common ground

651
00:25:43,833 --> 00:25:45,966
with the city's 
European-American community

652
00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:47,666
through a shared Catholic faith

653
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,600
and the creation of 
Spanish language,

654
00:25:49,733 --> 00:25:51,033
quote, "pioneer missions"

655
00:25:51,166 --> 00:25:53,200
in the mid 1920s.

656
00:25:53,333 --> 00:25:54,766
This first Mexican 
Catholic parish right here,

657
00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:56,566
this is Holy Trinity, and 
I'll talk about Holy Trinity

658
00:25:56,700 --> 00:25:57,866
in a second.

659
00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:59,400
But the first Mexican 
Catholic Parish

660
00:25:59,533 --> 00:26:02,966
that Mexicans eventually created 
helped meet the cultural,

661
00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:05,800
spiritual, social, 
and linguistic needs

662
00:26:05,933 --> 00:26:07,800
of the Mexican community 
throughout the period.

663
00:26:07,933 --> 00:26:12,100
And it was only possible through 
interethnic collaboration.

664
00:26:12,233 --> 00:26:14,133
In 1924, Mexicans 
began attending

665
00:26:14,266 --> 00:26:17,433
Holy Trinity Catholic Church 
on the near south side.

666
00:26:17,566 --> 00:26:19,366
The church's fraternal 
order of the Knights

667
00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:22,033
of Columbus noticed this 
growing Mexican community,

668
00:26:22,166 --> 00:26:24,233
and they reached out 
to the new congregants.

669
00:26:24,366 --> 00:26:27,433
And after consulting with 
Mexican community leaders,

670
00:26:27,566 --> 00:26:29,000
the Knights of Columbus decided

671
00:26:29,133 --> 00:26:31,666
to sponsor a Spanish 
language mission

672
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,533
in 1924 during holy week.

673
00:26:33,666 --> 00:26:36,200
So this was a Mass, this 
was a series of Masses

674
00:26:36,333 --> 00:26:39,200
that were conducted 
completely in Spanish by a,

675
00:26:39,333 --> 00:26:41,866
I believe he was 
German-American Jesuit priest

676
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:43,766
who spoke un poquito 
espanol, right?

677
00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:45,966
So he did his best 
to trudge through

678
00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:47,466
a Spanish language mission,

679
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,100
but this was really 
the first time

680
00:26:49,233 --> 00:26:51,100
that Milwaukee 
Mexicans felt any sort

681
00:26:51,233 --> 00:26:53,533
of invitation to the 
city's community.

682
00:26:53,666 --> 00:26:55,933
Frank Gross, a parishioner 
from Holy Trinity

683
00:26:56,066 --> 00:26:58,066
and an active member of 
the Knights of Columbus,

684
00:26:58,200 --> 00:26:59,466
took the lead.

685
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:00,900
He was very interested 
in Mexican culture.

686
00:27:01,033 --> 00:27:02,700
He took the lead, he 
spoke Spanish fluently,

687
00:27:02,833 --> 00:27:04,633
in working with Mexican 
community leaders

688
00:27:04,766 --> 00:27:07,366
to provide regular 
Spanish language Masses.

689
00:27:07,500 --> 00:27:10,033
Gross, Frank Gross, he 
contacted the office

690
00:27:10,166 --> 00:27:12,300
of the Archbishop, 
Sebastian G. Messmer,

691
00:27:12,433 --> 00:27:14,233
who provided a little 
bit of financial support

692
00:27:14,366 --> 00:27:16,700
from the archdiocese, and 
then he also reached out

693
00:27:16,833 --> 00:27:18,300
to Catholic social 
organizations,

694
00:27:18,433 --> 00:27:20,466
like the Society of 
St. Vincent De Paul,

695
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,233
to help provide for the physical 
welfare of the community.

696
00:27:24,366 --> 00:27:28,400
Together, Frank Gross 
and Mexican community 
leaders created

697
00:27:28,533 --> 00:27:30,700
the Mexican branch of 
the Knights of Columbus,

698
00:27:30,833 --> 00:27:33,966
which was called El 
Club Mexicano, in 1924.

699
00:27:34,100 --> 00:27:35,733
And this was, without a doubt,

700
00:27:35,866 --> 00:27:39,866
the first Mexican-led 
organization in 
Wisconsin's history.

701
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,333
El Club offered the city's 
Mexicans the first space

702
00:27:42,466 --> 00:27:44,733
to celebrate their 
national heritage

703
00:27:44,866 --> 00:27:46,166
through ethnic 
Catholic traditions

704
00:27:46,300 --> 00:27:47,766
and through community dances.

705
00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:50,766
In 1924, the committee 
brought the community together

706
00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:52,566
to commemorate the 
Battle of Puebla

707
00:27:52,700 --> 00:27:55,066
in early May through 
prayer, dancing,

708
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,966
and singing in an event 
sponsored by the Knights.

709
00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:00,433
Organized as a celebration 
of national identity,

710
00:28:00,566 --> 00:28:03,900
advertisements included 
images that emphasized pride

711
00:28:04,033 --> 00:28:06,833
and Aztec heritage and 
past military victories.

712
00:28:06,966 --> 00:28:09,166
So imagine this: after 
years of the type

713
00:28:09,300 --> 00:28:11,433
of discrimination and 
prejudice they faced

714
00:28:11,566 --> 00:28:13,633
on the south side, they 
actually have an opportunity

715
00:28:13,766 --> 00:28:18,000
to express and to celebrate 
national and ethnic heritage.

716
00:28:18,133 --> 00:28:20,633
Mexican leader and 
Frank Gross continue

717
00:28:20,766 --> 00:28:23,300
to collaborate throughout 1925,

718
00:28:23,433 --> 00:28:26,000
and developed a 
welcoming spiritual home

719
00:28:26,133 --> 00:28:28,366
for Mexicans through Spanish 
language Catholic Masses.

720
00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:30,566
This is actually from 1924.

721
00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:34,166
This is a dance that 
the Club Mexicano held

722
00:28:34,300 --> 00:28:36,733
in September of 1924.

723
00:28:37,666 --> 00:28:39,233
They recruited 
Spanish-speaking priests

724
00:28:39,366 --> 00:28:41,266
from around the Midwest 
to help lead services,

725
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:42,666
usually from Chicago,

726
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,666
where the Mexican 
community was much larger,

727
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,266
and their work led to the 
December 1925 mission,

728
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,200
which was the most successful 
event organized up to date

729
00:28:50,333 --> 00:28:51,766
in the Mexican community.

730
00:28:51,900 --> 00:28:53,833
The celebration was 
devoted in honor

731
00:28:53,966 --> 00:28:56,833
to Mexico's patron 
saint, Guadalupe.

732
00:28:56,966 --> 00:28:59,233
And a celebration of Las 
Posadas, just a few days later,

733
00:28:59,366 --> 00:29:01,466
represented a public renewal

734
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,866
of their shared Mexican 
religiosity and history.

735
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,400
After living through five 
years of racial antagonism

736
00:29:07,533 --> 00:29:08,866
on Milwaukee's south side,

737
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,300
the city's Mexican 
community saw in the image

738
00:29:11,433 --> 00:29:14,033
of Our Lady of Guadalupe 
and the celebration

739
00:29:14,166 --> 00:29:16,133
of her feast day, 
a powerful symbol

740
00:29:16,266 --> 00:29:18,966
of ethnic collective solidarity.

741
00:29:19,100 --> 00:29:21,566
So with momentum and 
enthusiasm growing

742
00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:23,966
within the Mexican Catholic 
community in Milwaukee,

743
00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:25,333
Milwaukee's Mexican leaders

744
00:29:25,466 --> 00:29:27,500
and white Catholic laity 
and clergy came together

745
00:29:27,633 --> 00:29:30,200
to plan a development 
of an independent chapel

746
00:29:30,333 --> 00:29:33,133
that would be capable of 
supporting the Mexican community

747
00:29:33,266 --> 00:29:35,100
in the spring of 1926.

748
00:29:35,233 --> 00:29:37,866
And here's where it 
gets really interesting,

749
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,566
or at least I think it does.

750
00:29:40,700 --> 00:29:42,100
The decision to 
create a new chapel

751
00:29:42,233 --> 00:29:44,933
for Milwaukee's Mexican 
Catholics in 1926 coincided

752
00:29:45,066 --> 00:29:47,566
with the beginning of a 
war in Mexico initiated

753
00:29:47,700 --> 00:29:49,933
by the government against 
the Catholic church,

754
00:29:50,066 --> 00:29:52,733
called the Cristero 
War, La Cristiada.

755
00:29:52,866 --> 00:29:55,866
Mexican president 
Plutarco Elias Calles saw

756
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,400
in the Catholic church a direct 
challenge in his attempts

757
00:29:58,533 --> 00:30:01,066
to solidify control, and 
so in February of 1926,

758
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,066
he ordered the 
enforcement of a series

759
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,533
of anti-clerical provisions.

760
00:30:05,666 --> 00:30:07,933
In response, Catholic 
protesters rose up

761
00:30:08,066 --> 00:30:09,833
in arms throughout 
northern and western Mexico

762
00:30:09,966 --> 00:30:13,600
through the summer of 1926, 
with cries of Viva Cristo Rey,

763
00:30:13,733 --> 00:30:15,733
Long live Christ the King.

764
00:30:15,866 --> 00:30:18,166
The ensuing war, and 
the persecution of 
Mexican Catholics,

765
00:30:18,300 --> 00:30:20,633
captivated Milwaukee's 
Catholic community.

766
00:30:20,766 --> 00:30:22,533
And so this is from the 
Milwaukee Catholic Herald,

767
00:30:22,666 --> 00:30:26,566
which was one of the 
Catholic publications.

768
00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:30,200
And we see over there, an 
advertisement from the Compass,

769
00:30:30,333 --> 00:30:32,333
which was the Milwaukee 
Knights of Columbus periodical.

770
00:30:32,466 --> 00:30:34,300
And so what the Knights 
of Columbus actually did

771
00:30:34,433 --> 00:30:36,033
is connected their 
fundraising efforts

772
00:30:36,166 --> 00:30:39,200
for Milwaukee's 
Mexican community with 
fundraising efforts

773
00:30:39,333 --> 00:30:40,600
for Mexican Catholics abroad.

774
00:30:40,733 --> 00:30:42,133
Right, so they said in order

775
00:30:42,266 --> 00:30:44,033
to protect Catholicism 
across the world,

776
00:30:44,166 --> 00:30:46,600
we actually need to support 
Mexican Catholics here

777
00:30:46,733 --> 00:30:48,466
in Milwaukee.

778
00:30:49,466 --> 00:30:51,733
In the midst of 
the Cristero War,

779
00:30:51,866 --> 00:30:53,300
things began to 
falling into place

780
00:30:53,433 --> 00:30:55,200
for Milwaukee's Mexican 
community when they are able

781
00:30:55,333 --> 00:30:56,533
to secure two necessary things

782
00:30:56,666 --> 00:30:58,966
for building a religious space:

783
00:30:59,100 --> 00:31:01,933
their own committed 
physical location,

784
00:31:02,066 --> 00:31:03,466
and a spiritual leader.

785
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,900
So exiled clergy, especially 
foreign-born priests,

786
00:31:06,033 --> 00:31:09,033
such as the Chilean reverend 
Ernesto Osorio Aguirre,

787
00:31:09,166 --> 00:31:10,833
were fleeing Mexico 
throughout the period,

788
00:31:10,966 --> 00:31:13,500
and Aguirre is right here.

789
00:31:13,633 --> 00:31:16,433
And Aguirre was living in 
Texas at the time in 1926,

790
00:31:16,566 --> 00:31:18,000
and he answered the call

791
00:31:18,133 --> 00:31:20,133
to become Milwaukee's 
Spanish-speaking priest.

792
00:31:20,266 --> 00:31:21,700
And then Archbishop 
Messmer proceeded

793
00:31:21,833 --> 00:31:23,266
to cover the $9,000 cost needed

794
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,666
to purchase an old 
storefront on 5th Street,

795
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,933
which was then Grove Street.

796
00:31:28,066 --> 00:31:31,433
And so, on December 12, 
1926, Archbishop Messmer,

797
00:31:31,566 --> 00:31:33,233
along with Reverend Aguirre,

798
00:31:33,366 --> 00:31:35,500
led the dedication of the 
Mexican mission chapel

799
00:31:35,633 --> 00:31:38,000
of Our Lady Guadalupe, held 
in accordance with the feast

800
00:31:38,133 --> 00:31:41,700
of the patron saint of Mexico, 
la Virgen de Guadalupe.

801
00:31:41,833 --> 00:31:44,933
For the next two years, Our 
Lady Guadalupe's Masses took

802
00:31:45,066 --> 00:31:47,433
on a distinctly political 
tone in response

803
00:31:47,566 --> 00:31:50,333
to the continued persecution 
of Catholics in Mexico.

804
00:31:50,466 --> 00:31:52,600
It became a cross-ethnic 
political space

805
00:31:52,733 --> 00:31:55,766
for Mexicans and Milwaukee's 
European origin community

806
00:31:55,900 --> 00:31:58,333
to track geopolitical events

807
00:31:58,466 --> 00:32:01,166
that affected the entire 
city's Catholic community.

808
00:32:01,300 --> 00:32:03,033
So from the opening 
of this chapel

809
00:32:03,166 --> 00:32:07,000
until the end of the 
La Cristiada, the 
Cristero War in 1929,

810
00:32:07,133 --> 00:32:08,900
congregants gathered 
every single night

811
00:32:09,033 --> 00:32:12,266
to pray for Mexican 
Catholics abroad.

812
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,033
By 1929, the Milwaukee 
Sentinel reported

813
00:32:15,166 --> 00:32:17,766
that the chapel had become, 
quote, "the general headquarters

814
00:32:17,900 --> 00:32:22,366
"for all of the activities of 
Mexican life in Milwaukee."

815
00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:24,833
Besides the church, like 
many European immigrants

816
00:32:24,966 --> 00:32:26,666
who had made their 
home in Milwaukee,

817
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,466
Mexican community members 
also created a number

818
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,566
of mutual aid societies 
known as mutualistas.

819
00:32:31,700 --> 00:32:34,133
These organizations served 
partially as civic groups,

820
00:32:34,266 --> 00:32:35,733
as well as places to 
celebrate cultural

821
00:32:35,866 --> 00:32:37,400
and ethnic identity.

822
00:32:37,533 --> 00:32:39,066
However, they were 
usually just spaces

823
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:40,966
to spend time with compatriots.

824
00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:43,266
So there were two mutual aid 
societies I'd like to mention.

825
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:45,600
The first was La Sociedad 
Mutualista Hispano-Azteca.

826
00:32:45,733 --> 00:32:47,100
The first one to pop up,

827
00:32:47,233 --> 00:32:49,066
and I want you to notice 
the American flag along

828
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,566
with Mexican banners in 
the background, right?

829
00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:54,366
So there's this idea 
of dual citizenship

830
00:32:54,500 --> 00:32:56,200
or of understanding 
of dual allegiances.

831
00:32:56,333 --> 00:32:59,800
And the second was 
(speaking foreign language),

832
00:32:59,933 --> 00:33:03,233
which was founded a 
little bit later in 1929.

833
00:33:03,366 --> 00:33:05,200
These organizations were 
responsible for establishing

834
00:33:05,333 --> 00:33:07,500
the city's first Spanish 
language newspapers,

835
00:33:07,633 --> 00:33:10,233
which included El Sancho Panza,

836
00:33:10,366 --> 00:33:12,866
El Boletin Informativo, 
and El Mutualista.

837
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:16,300
And El Mutualista was the most 
popular of those newspapers.

838
00:33:16,433 --> 00:33:17,800
And that's over 
there on the left.

839
00:33:17,933 --> 00:33:20,000
And Mutualista covered 
a wide range of things.

840
00:33:20,133 --> 00:33:23,533
New stories, poetry, 
editorials, religious essays,

841
00:33:23,666 --> 00:33:26,933
and patriotic appeals 
to the community.

842
00:33:27,066 --> 00:33:29,600
Mutual aid societies 
also took on the role

843
00:33:29,733 --> 00:33:32,966
of social functionaries, 
funding and hosting dances

844
00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:35,933
and celebrations for the 
city's Mexican community.

845
00:33:36,066 --> 00:33:38,100
So two special dates 
stood out for celebration,

846
00:33:38,233 --> 00:33:40,300
Cinco de Mayo and then the 
Mexican independence day.

847
00:33:40,433 --> 00:33:42,166
And this is what 
we see right here.

848
00:33:42,300 --> 00:33:43,733
This is September 16, 1930,

849
00:33:43,866 --> 00:33:47,166
and this is the first 
Mexican parade in Milwaukee.

850
00:33:47,300 --> 00:33:49,600
This is a celebration of 
Mexican Independence Dday

851
00:33:49,733 --> 00:33:53,066
through the Bay View 
neighborhood, 1930.

852
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,066
So by the late 1920s 
and early 1930s,

853
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,466
it really seemed like 
Milwaukee's Mexican community

854
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,066
had found a foothold 
in the city.

855
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,733
Remember we said about 
5 to 7,000 Mexicans.

856
00:34:02,866 --> 00:34:05,733
They've got a church base, 
they've got businesses,

857
00:34:05,866 --> 00:34:08,566
and they've got a social scene.

858
00:34:08,700 --> 00:34:10,566
Not a happy ending.

859
00:34:10,700 --> 00:34:13,033
This all comes to a halt 
with the Great Depression.

860
00:34:13,166 --> 00:34:15,433
The ramifications of the 
Great Depression dug deeper

861
00:34:15,566 --> 00:34:17,700
and deeper into the city's 
economic opportunities

862
00:34:17,833 --> 00:34:19,533
throughout the early 1930s.

863
00:34:19,666 --> 00:34:21,200
So, for example, in 1933,

864
00:34:21,333 --> 00:34:23,733
only a quarter of the 
wage earners in Milwaukee

865
00:34:23,866 --> 00:34:25,600
across the city still had a job,

866
00:34:25,733 --> 00:34:27,633
while only one out of 
every five families

867
00:34:27,766 --> 00:34:31,133
was actually already on some 
form of welfare or state aid.

868
00:34:31,266 --> 00:34:33,800
Because most Milwaukee 
business viewed Mexicans

869
00:34:33,933 --> 00:34:35,700
as simply surplus labor,

870
00:34:35,833 --> 00:34:37,800
they were usually 
the first ones fired

871
00:34:37,933 --> 00:34:40,133
from the city's 
factories and tanneries.

872
00:34:40,266 --> 00:34:41,800
Faced with high 
unemployment with the onset

873
00:34:41,933 --> 00:34:44,300
of the Great Depression, 
Milwaukee's Mexican colony began

874
00:34:44,433 --> 00:34:46,333
to shrink very quickly.

875
00:34:46,466 --> 00:34:48,733
Felix Gonzalez remember 
in 1975 interviewed

876
00:34:48,866 --> 00:34:51,166
that a large majority of 
the single men who had come

877
00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:52,900
to Milwaukee in search of work,

878
00:34:53,033 --> 00:34:54,466
ended up leaving on their own,

879
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,900
but a lot of the families 
that had come weren't able

880
00:34:57,033 --> 00:34:59,000
to pay their way back 
because it was so expensive

881
00:34:59,133 --> 00:35:00,466
to go back to Mexico.

882
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,433
So they were forced to 
hunker down in Milwaukee.

883
00:35:02,566 --> 00:35:04,300
Depleted county 
welfare resources

884
00:35:04,433 --> 00:35:07,100
and rising anti-immigrant 
settlement also 
fueled crackdowns

885
00:35:07,233 --> 00:35:09,500
on both documented and 
undocumented immigration

886
00:35:09,633 --> 00:35:11,233
throughout the period.

887
00:35:11,366 --> 00:35:13,000
Local elected officials worked

888
00:35:13,133 --> 00:35:14,500
with federal 
immigration officers

889
00:35:14,633 --> 00:35:17,966
to search for Mexicans on 
the county welfare rolls

890
00:35:18,100 --> 00:35:20,566
and line them up 
for deportation.

891
00:35:20,700 --> 00:35:22,066
And regardless of their 
citizenship status

892
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:23,700
or their documentation status,

893
00:35:23,833 --> 00:35:26,866
many of those suspected, 
quote-unquote "public charges"

894
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,366
were apprehended and then taken 
for deportation proceedings

895
00:35:29,500 --> 00:35:33,500
in Chicago, oftentimes without 
any form of due process.

896
00:35:33,633 --> 00:35:36,666
By 1933, Milwaukee's Mexican 
community had been reduced

897
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,133
to fewer than 1,500 people,

898
00:35:39,266 --> 00:35:40,866
as many Mexicans either 
returned on their own

899
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,133
or were forced back 
through these deportations.

900
00:35:43,266 --> 00:35:44,533
Nationally, the repatriation

901
00:35:44,666 --> 00:35:47,033
of Mexicans during the 
Great Depression led

902
00:35:47,166 --> 00:35:48,566
to the deportation of anywhere

903
00:35:48,700 --> 00:35:51,633
from 500,000 to two million 
people back to Mexico.

904
00:35:51,766 --> 00:35:54,233
And I'll just note that 
a lot of those people

905
00:35:54,366 --> 00:35:55,500
were actually American citizens,

906
00:35:55,633 --> 00:35:56,933
some of them born 
in this country

907
00:35:57,066 --> 00:35:59,166
or people who had achieved 
citizenship status.

908
00:35:59,300 --> 00:36:00,733
In fact, a few decades ago,

909
00:36:00,866 --> 00:36:03,166
California actually 
issued a formal apology

910
00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:05,100
because of the 
repatriation of Mexicans

911
00:36:05,233 --> 00:36:06,833
during the Great Depression.

912
00:36:06,966 --> 00:36:08,666
In Milwaukee, it wouldn't 
be until the years

913
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:10,166
following World War II

914
00:36:10,300 --> 00:36:11,833
that Milwaukee's Mexican 
community would recuperate

915
00:36:11,966 --> 00:36:13,800
and grow, but 
we'll have to leave

916
00:36:13,933 --> 00:36:15,933
that story for another talk.

917
00:36:16,066 --> 00:36:18,066
So we're almost done 
here, but before we go,

918
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,433
I'd like to return to El 
Dia Sin Latinos protest

919
00:36:20,566 --> 00:36:23,166
from earlier this year.

920
00:36:23,300 --> 00:36:25,533
In a number of 
ways, Los Primeros,

921
00:36:25,666 --> 00:36:28,433
the first Mexicans to make 
their home in Milwaukee,

922
00:36:28,566 --> 00:36:30,500
encountered a sense of 
anti-immigrant fervor

923
00:36:30,633 --> 00:36:32,933
both from their settlement 
experience in the 1920s

924
00:36:33,066 --> 00:36:35,266
and then in the possible 
repatriation they faced

925
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:36,866
in the 1930s.

926
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,400
These challenges were driven 
by a number of factors.

927
00:36:39,533 --> 00:36:41,833
Fear of the other, 
fear of change,

928
00:36:41,966 --> 00:36:43,733
fear of a loss of 
economic opportunities,

929
00:36:43,866 --> 00:36:45,233
and then, of course,

930
00:36:45,366 --> 00:36:48,633
at times just unabashed 
discrimination and racism.

931
00:36:48,766 --> 00:36:51,766
Those fears that drove cause 
to push Latino immigrants out

932
00:36:51,900 --> 00:36:54,233
of Wisconsin communities 
nearly a hundred years ago,

933
00:36:54,366 --> 00:36:56,700
I believe, are still in 
some ways apparent today.

934
00:36:56,833 --> 00:36:59,700
Not only in these pieces of 
anti-immigrant legislation,

935
00:36:59,833 --> 00:37:02,533
but also, of course, in 
calls for mass deportations

936
00:37:02,666 --> 00:37:04,500
and walls along our borders

937
00:37:04,633 --> 00:37:07,366
from certain 
presidential candidates.

938
00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:09,833
But here's the thing, 
throughout the history

939
00:37:09,966 --> 00:37:12,500
of Wisconsin Latino community 
there has always been a spirit

940
00:37:12,633 --> 00:37:13,933
of perseverance.

941
00:37:14,066 --> 00:37:15,733
At times, people turned inward,

942
00:37:15,866 --> 00:37:18,400
as they did in developing 
mutual aid societies

943
00:37:18,533 --> 00:37:19,866
or their own businesses.

944
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,400
At other points, however, 
they found allies

945
00:37:22,533 --> 00:37:24,300
in their surrounding 
communities who were willing

946
00:37:24,433 --> 00:37:26,400
to stand with them, as 
they did in the development

947
00:37:26,533 --> 00:37:28,400
of Our Lady Guadalupe 
mission chapel

948
00:37:28,533 --> 00:37:29,933
and as they did on the steps

949
00:37:30,066 --> 00:37:32,233
of the Capitol just 
a few months ago.

950
00:37:32,366 --> 00:37:34,433
There's a saying in the 
immigrant rights movement:

951
00:37:34,566 --> 00:37:36,666
(speaking foreign language),

952
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:40,000
which means we're here and 
we're not going anywhere.

953
00:37:40,133 --> 00:37:42,066
So regardless of these efforts 
to drive away immigrants,

954
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,366
census and demographic reports

955
00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:46,233
are painting a very 
different reality.

956
00:37:46,366 --> 00:37:50,133
They show us that no population 
will grow faster or larger

957
00:37:50,266 --> 00:37:51,833
than the state's 
Latino population,

958
00:37:51,966 --> 00:37:55,833
which today stands at 
about 336,000 residents

959
00:37:55,966 --> 00:37:59,800
but will grow to nearly 
one million people by 2060.

960
00:37:59,933 --> 00:38:01,300
And Wisconsin Latinos,

961
00:38:01,433 --> 00:38:04,133
those who are here today 
and future generations,

962
00:38:04,266 --> 00:38:06,866
have Los Primeros to thank 
for laying down the roots

963
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:08,733
to endure and (speaking 
foreign language).

964
00:38:08,866 --> 00:38:10,233
Thank you.

965
00:38:10,366 --> 00:38:12,366
(audience applauding)