Latinx Resources in Special Collections: José F. Treviño Chicanx/Latinx Activism Collection

The José F. Treviño papers focus on Treviño's work as an employee of the Office of Supportive Services Developmental Program at Michigan State University, where he was an adviser to Chicano student organizations and a community activist advocating for substance abuse services to the Chicano and Latino community. The papers document analysis of Chicano and other minority student performance and retention at MSU, Chicano student activism at MSU in the 1970s, as well as his work to establish services to the Chicano community in need of substance abuse rehabilitative services.

Starting from the late 1960s, Michigan's state, county and local government entities began to officially recognize the state's growing Chicanx and Latinx population and their history. The Michigan resolutions on Chicanx and Latinx history collection include resolutions passed by the Michigan House, Senate, County, and other local entities honoring Chicanx and Latinx political figures and historical events. Other materials include correspondence, event programs, and news articles relating to these resolutions.

Juan Marinez was one of the first Chicano students enrolled at Michigan State University (MSU). Marinez served as as an MSU Extension program director and a regional Extension supervisor. From 1999 to 2002, he worked for Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman as the national program coordinator on farm workers and secured $20 million for farm workers who had been negatively affected by natural disasters, the first-ever available funds to go to farm worker assistance during a natural disaster. He also helped establish a nationwide network of community-based, nonprofit organizations serving migrant/seasonal farm workers living in low-income situations. The Juan Marinez papers includes reports, documents, audio and visual material collected by Marinez in his role as an MSU Extension program director and oral history interviews in the Michigan Mexican American Lives oral history project.

Penny Pangburn Burillo served as an advocate for the Mexican American community of southwestern Michigan for over four decades. She used her bilingual skills to advocate for migrant farmworkers on local and state boards on issues relating to housing, employment, education, and race discrimination. She collected Quinceañera invitations as mementos of the 15-year old birthday party celebrations for the young women in the Mexican American community she helped sponsor. The Penny Pangburn Burillo papers contain photos, invitations, and realia related to her Quinceañera collection.

Maria Enriquez was a founding member of the Mujeres Unidas de Michigan (MUM) and started the organization’s Flint chapter. She spent ten years assisting the Hispanic students of Flint through the Spanish-Speaking Information Center, served on the Michigan Commission on Spanish Speaking Affairs and was a member and Vice President of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. The Maria Enriquez papers primarily relate to Enriquez’s involvement with the Flint Hispanic community from 1973 through 1989.

Student and civic organizer and a life-long Lansing resident, Paulo Gordillo took the lead in commemorating United Farm Worker union President and organizer Cesar E. Chavez upon his death by having a street named in his honor. The Paulo R. Gordillo papers consists of materials supporting the naming of a Lansing city street to commemorate Cesar E. Chavez’s life and work on behalf of the agricultural worker in the United States.

David Khilji was a student political activist at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and Michigan State University (MSU). He was a member of the Latino Student Association (LSA) at EMU, Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlán (MEXA) at MSU from 1999-2001, and a member of the grass roots non-profit organization, Xicano Development Center (XDC) in Lansing, Michigan. The David Khilji Papers​​ ​relate to Khilji’s interest in campus political activities.

Juana and Jesse Gonzalez were both student activists involved in the Chicano student movement at Michigan State University (MSU) during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Juana and Jesse Gonzales papers contain reports, newsletters, reprints, unpublished papers and news clippings collected by Jesse and Juana Gonzales since the late 1960s through 2006 relating to Chicano student activism on campuses, Chicanos and Latinos in the arts, and materials on the history of Chicanos and Latinos in Michigan.

Justo Hernandez was a labor educator who worked at Michigan State University in The Union Minorities Leadership Training Project from 1981 - 1994. He brought Cesar E. Chavez to Michigan for several UFW grape and lettuce boycott events and helped organize UFW marches in Michigan from the early 1970's - 1994. The Justo Hernandez papers consist of materials gathered from his volunteer work organizing local United Farm Workers union activities, including photographs of Cesar E. Chavez at local activities.

Nora L. Salas was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1975. An activist, she was involved in local education and farmworker politics. She received a degree from the University of Michigan and pursued a PhD in History at Michigan State University. The Nora L. Salas papers document Salas' involvement with Chicano and minority university politics and activism at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, as well as some events in the greater Detroit area. Focusing on educational issues, affirmative action, political advancement, and community support programs, the papers include conference materials, meeting files, news articles, flyers, pamphlets, and poetry.

Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. was an award winning poet, author of five books, lecturer, and community activist. He mentored poets of all ages - from elementary school students to adults - throughout the country, particularly in Michigan, Texas, and Colorado. The Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. papers consists of printed materials, video and audiotapes, computer discs, photographs, awards, and realia. The written materials include correspondence (personal, reader response, and business) articles and essays, course materials, business records, published and unpublished poetry, short story drafts, and manuscripts written by Sanchez and other authors and poets.

Gumecindo Salas taught for the Detroit Public Schools and later for Wayne State University, where he helped establish a Chicano Boricua Studies program and served as its director for three years prior to joining Michigan State University (MSU) as director of Minority Programs. Dr. Salas served as an elected member of the Michigan State Board of Education for two terms and served on the Saginaw Valley State University Board of Trustees and the Governor's Commission for the Improvement of Higher Education in Michigan. The Gumecindo Salas papers consists of reports, unpublished papers, and news clippings related to Latinos in education including bilingual education and higher education.

Rudy Reyes was an active member of the United Auto Workers [UAW] Local 602, serving on several Executive Board committees and chairing the Community Service Committee. He brought the labor and Latino perspective to other community-based organizations he served, including the Red Cross (Tri-County Disaster Committee Chair), The United Way Board (Secretary) and Cristo Rey Church (member, Parish Council). Reyes was also appointed by Michigan Governor Blanchard to the State of Michigan Commission on Spanish Speaking Affairs. The Rudy Reyes papers document Reyes’ involvement with the local and nationwide Chicano/Latino movement focusing on labor, leadership training, educational issues, affirmative action, political advancement, and community support programs.

Refugio Rochin is an Agricultural Economist whose list of publications includes more than 140 articles in books, magazines, and professional journals on Latino contributions to U.S. history, community development, culture, arts, music, and science. Professor Rochin has held several high profile positions including Executive Director of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Associate Director for the Inter-University Program for Latino Research, and he was the Founding Director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives and the Latino Initiatives Fund. The Refugio I. Rochin papers contain research files of news clippings from local and national publications pertaining to immigration, free trade, labor, the experiences of Chicanos and Latinos and Rochlin’s papers as the Founding Director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives and the Latino Initiatives Fund.

Alberto Flores worked for nonprofit organizations and state government, serving as Director of Community Relations for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, co-founding the Michigan Hispanic Senior Citizens Coalition (MHSCC) and other Chicano and Latino advocacy organizations in mid-Michigan including the Bay County American GI Forum. The Alberto Flores collection on the Michigan Hispanic Senior Citizens Coalition (MHSCC) contains correspondence, meeting notes and agendas, photos, news clips, and fliers from Flores’ work with the MHSCC.

Daniel Tirado worked with AMOS, Inc., a migrant legal services agency in Indiana. Linda Medina Tirado was a migrant worker in her youth and later a student activist at Michigan State University. The Daniel Tirado and Linda Medina Tirado papers contains reports, newsletters, reprints, news clippings and photography collected by Daniel and Linda Tirado. A significant part of the collection dates from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s and relates to Daniel Tirado's work with agricultural labor and migrant workers.

Andrés Guerrero was a community advocate for the Spanish speaking population for the Vicar's office in the Latin American Affairs Division in the Saginaw Michigan diocesan office. He was also a community organizer and professor in the various communities he resided in (Massachusetts, Michigan and Colorado). He has written and lectured on theologies of liberation (Chicano, African American, Feminist and Latin Americans), the sociology of religion and Hispanics in the U.S. as well as the history of the Hispanic church in the southwestern United States. The Andrés G. Guerrero papers document Professor Guerrero’s interest in Chicano Liberation Theology and the Chicano civil rights movement and include a commemorative flag from Cesar Chavez's funeral mass at St. Julia's church on May 2, 1993 in Austin, Texas. 

Gilbert Salazar (1936-2012), a retired business owner and Lansing resident, was respected highly for his commitment to organizing, promoting, and developing Latin American League sports in mid-Michigan. He spent a significant amount of time collecting and documenting the early years of Latino organized sports in the Lansing area (1950-1969). He also photographed Lansing leagues and teams from the mid-1960s to 2000. The Gilbert Salazar Papers are comprised of two boxes of materials and four trophies dating from 1948 to 1999. It contains handwritten drafts and published works written by Gilbert Salazar and includes original articles, books, essays, team journals, scorecards, event programs, tournament schedules, team and athlete photos.

Miguel Espinoza, a protégé of José Treviño, worked with the Michigan Department of Human Services in the area of migrant services. He also served as a member of the Southwest Michigan Migrant Resource Council, a body of local, state, federal and religious migrant services agencies and organizations in southwestern Michigan counties, from 1994 - 2000, and was Chairperson of the Council for the year 2001. The Miguel Espinoza papers include meeting minutes from the Southwest Michigan Migrant Resource Council from 1994-2000 as well as newspaper clippings on migrant labor, immigration and other agricultural labor issues such as health, housing and education.

Mexican calendar art grew in popularity in post-Revolution Mexico around the 1930s for commercial advertising purposes and were often freely distributed providing a source of free art in the home. The Chicano and Mexican Calendar Art collection contains religious, historical and cultural content and images such as important feast days, national days of celebration and observance and imagery linking the traditions of the past to continuing customs and social, political and economic situations.

Gilberto Martinez was an active supporter of La Raza Unida party in Texas and helped community organizations acquire free cable, radio, and television broadcast time and the requirements for establishing a television and audio production facility. He also helped establish radio and television programming for the mid-Michigan Latino population through Michigan State University. The Gilberto and Minerva Martinez Papers contain materials related to Gilberto Martinez's life and political activism in Michigan and Texas. Included are files, photographs, illustrations, newspaper clippings, articles, realia and memorabilia focused on artists, exhibits, political events, political parties - such as La Raza Unida - and business ventures in broadcasting and communications.