Jacqueline Guzman and Dr. José Alamillo
Abstract
La Voz de la Colonia is a Spanish language newspaper published in Ventura County during the 1920s and 1930s that helped Mexican immigrants stay connected to their homeland, language and culture. The newspaper also kept the Mexican community informed about important immigration issues. The scholarly literature had mainly focused on big city Spanish language newspapers, like La Opinión in Los Angeles, La Prensa in San Antonio, and El Diario in New York City, but have overlooked small media markets like Ventura County. My paper examines the coverage of immigration issues in La Voz de la Colonia newspaper from 1926 to 1932. I will be researching the online La Voz de la Colonia newspaper archive and the newspaper collection at E.P. Foster Library in Ventura. My findings show that La Voz de la Colonia played in important role in informing Ventura County’s Mexican population about changes in immigration law, immigration raids, detentions and deportations, and advocating on the behalf of the rights of immigrants. This research reveals that Spanish language newspapers continue to inform readers about immigration issues, about their legal rights in accessing state and federal services and encourages readers to advocate for immigrant rights.
Congratulations Jacqueline, I enjoyed your presentation and your images and results are so important!
Interesting topic! The laws made in the 1920s are still affecting people today, even if attitudes have potentially changed. Thanks for taking on this work.