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Los Mineros Photographs

 Collection
Identifier: MP SPC 186

Scope and Content Note

The photographs in this collection were gathered by Hector Galan Productions of Austin, Texas to be used in the documentary Los Mineros, which was part of a prime time, public television series called American Experience. It was originally broadcast on January 28, 1991.

The collection and the documentary trace the lives of Mexican and Mexican-American copper miners in the Clifton-Morenci area who worked in the Phelps Dodge Copper Mine and their efforts to form a union between 1900 and 1950. The collection includes scenes of labor organizing by the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) and the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers; the Bisbee Deportation (1917); the repatriation of Mexican miners during the Depression; the military service of Mexican-Americans in both World Wars; the living conditions of the miners' families; and working conditions in the mines. Most photographs were made in the Clifton-Morenci area, although a number were made by servicemen while overseas during World War II. Most photographs are snapshots by unidentified photographers, although there are a few commercial and studio photographs.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1910-1950

Language of Materials

Material in English

Access Restrictions

Reproductions from this collection may not be exhibited, published, or copied in any fashion without the advanced, written permission of the department. A fee may be charged for some forms of use. Reproductions from this collection may not be placed in another archive or repository without the written consent of the department.

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Distinctive Collections Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Copyright

The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of Distinctive Collections, Arizona State University Library. Requests for permissions to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.

Historical Note

No historical information is available.

Full extent

709 Photograph(s)

Full extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

This collection documents the lives of Mexican and Mexican-American copper miners in the Clifton-Morenci area who worked in the Phelps Dodge Copper Mine and their efforts to form a union between 1900 and 1950.

Arrangement

This collection consists of seven hundred and nine photographs divided into seventeen series:

  1. Series 186.1: John Armenta
  2. Series 186.2: Gilberto Arrieta
  3. Series 186.3: Arthur G. Castro
  4. Series 186.4: Umberto Haro
  5. Series 186.5: Clinton E. Jencks Family
  6. Series 186.6: Edward (Lalo) Marquez
  7. Series 186.7: Manuel Martinez
  8. Series 186.8: Edward Montoya
  9. Series 186.9: S. A. Morales
  10. Series 186.10: Francisco Otero
  11. Series 186.11: Fred Padilla
  12. Series 186.12: Frank Perea
  13. Series 186.13: John Pintek
  14. Series 186.14: David Velasquez
  15. Series 186.15: Jesus J. Villanueva
  16. Series 186.16: Alberto Ybarra
  17. Series 186.17: Pablo and Mary Salcido

Provenance

These photographs were originally gathered by Hector Galan Productions of Austin, Texas between 1989 and 1990 during the production of the television program Los Mineros. Owners of the photographs were asked to loan them to the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Arizona State University Libraries to be copied and assembled into this collection. Copy photography was done in the department by staff photographer D. Ted Harris. A number of individuals allowed the department to keep the originals as well.

Related Materials

Los Mineros [Video Recording]. Produced and Directed by Hector Galan. Available both in English and Spanish.

MSS 137: Clinton Jencks Papers, 1950-1957 (guide available at http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/jencks.xml) contain information about Jencks' labor organizing activities with the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelters Workers in the Southwest between 1950 and 1957. They also house IUMMSW union memorandums, newsletters, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and printed matter documenting Jencks' work as the international union representative of Amalgamated Bayard District Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Local 890, a union with a predominately Mexican American membership. Finally, the collection includes information about the fifteen-month Empire Zinc strike in Hanover, New Mexico led by Local 890 of IUMMSW and information about the Jencks Case, the 1954 trial in El Paso, Texas where Jencks successfully fought false charges brought against him by an undercover FBI informant who believed Jencks to be a member of the Communist Party.

Processing Note

The call number for the collection as a whole is MP SPC 186. Each series is numbered, separated from the collection number by a period. Each item within a series is numbered, separated from the series number by a colon. For example, MP SPC 186.6:4 is the fourth item in the sixth series in this collection.

Title
Los Mineros Photographs
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Richard Pearce-Moses in March of 1991; machine-readable finding guide created by Michael Lotstein in April of 2005.
Date
2013
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding guide encoded in English.

Repository details

Part of the Chicano/a Research Collection Repository

Contact

Arizona State University
P.O. Box 871006
Tempe AZ 85287-1006 United States
(480) 965-4932