EXHIBITS
Latinx Voices Project: Public Presentations
Public Presentations
The project received great media coverage, both locally and from Wasatch Front newspapers. Although much of this coverage was positive, blogs associated with several articles included vitriolic posts which confirmed to us that our efforts to preserve and present the life experiences of Cache Valley Latinxs was and is vital. We carried this mission forward by holding public presentations.
In October 2007, Méndez and Williams presented the project at the Cache Community Connections’ Concert and Lecture Series at the Logan LDS Tabernacle. Approximately 50 people attended and participated in a question-and-answer session that led to a particularly interesting discussion. Following the presentation, several individuals shared with us their interest in oral history work for their community/group, including Providence City, the First Presbyterian Church of Logan, and the Cache Community Connections organization. These contacts have since enabled Williams to hold oral history presentations or workshops for each of these groups. All of these groups have conducted and completed oral history projects for their organizations, and the Cache Valley Presbyterian Church (FOLK COLL 44) and Cache Community Connections (FOLK COLL 47) have deposited their oral history projects in USU Libraries’ SCA.
In an effort to analyze the Latinx Voices Project, Méndez and Williams organized a symposium in September 2008 for all of the LVP interviewees, interviewers, advisory board members, and some community members. 20 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 70, attended. Participants were asked to read selections from the LVP oral histories prior to the symposium to guide discussion. While preparing the readings, Williams and Méndez noted 4 major themes in the “voices” of the participants: social/political, family, work, and community. USU scholars who participated in the project were asked to moderate each theme group. From the vibrant discussions at the symposium, Williams, Méndez, M. Spicer-Escalante, Ortiz, and JP Spicer-Escalante prepared short essays about the project and themes. At present, Ortiz, M. Spicer-Escalante, and Williams are working on Latinx Voices II, an effort to enhance the LVP by adding youth perspectives to the collection by collaborating with students in Mountain Crest High School’s Latino Discovery.
Along the way, Méndez and Williams received a Utah Humanities Council Human Ties Award on behalf of their efforts. The publicity kept the LVP in the spotlight and paved the way for further donations into a subset of the LVP, including Mountain Crest High School’s yearly Latinos in Action class publications A Journey to the American Dream: One World, Many Countries, One Family, One Purpose (2010); In Hope of a Better Future: Making our Parents’ Sacrifice Worth it (2011); Utah Latinos: A Proud Legacy, vol. 1 and 2; and OK Espanol (formerly El Observador de Utah, a Spanish-language newspaper once published by the Deseret News).
From concept to near completion, the Latinx Voices Project works to strengthen SCA’s Latinx holdings. The LVP was a success because of the insightful oral histories and commentary of 54 Latinx community members, the engaging symposium where central themes from the histories were discussed, and the short essays that inform the collections’ digital presentation. But most importantly, the collection is a robust beginning of Latinx community connections and involvement in Utah State University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives.