Preserve spectrum of diversity in our archives
Libraries still don’t include enough works by or about Hispanic women
In early November, the University of Houston hosted a conference and commemoration of the National Women’s Conference called Taking 1977 into the 21st Century. It’s been 40 years since that groundbreaking conference, where between 17,000 and 22,000 people met to organize for women’s rights. This month, women from across the country reconvened to look back at the fruits of that historic gathering’s labor: Second Wave Feminism, its failures, successes and the women of the Second Wave’s role in supporting the work of today’s feminist movement.
One of those returning attendees was Martha Cotera. Cotera delivered the John P. McGovern Endowed Lecture and keynote of the recent conference, recounting her experiences as one of the principal organizers for the Texas Latinas delegation at the 1977 conference.
In 2010 I was studying archives and academic librarianship at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information. That’s where, I first stumbled across the name Martha Cotera. Her name immediately caught my attention because it was just so rare to encounter a Latino surname in an archive — neither as a professional working in the field nor as the subject of an archival collection.
I was perusing the collection inventories at the Benson Latin American Collection at UT, one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Latin American and Latin materials. And there she was. Cotera’s papers, held at the Benson, provided a description of Cotera’s life but not the full breadth of her significance and trailblazing work. It was revolutionary for me to see that a Latina had come before me, merging the ethos of activism with archives, and dedicating her life’s work to the inclusion and preservation of underrepresented Latin histories — particularly
the histories of women.
Even today, those who work in libraries and archives fail to include the diversity of the communities and individuals we aim to document and preserve in our collections.
Cotera, who was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, immigrated to El Paso in 1946 with her family. It was in that border community where she began her career, but her most significant contributions to the Chicano Movement and the feminist movement would take place throughout Texas, notably in Austin, Crystal City and Houston. In 1964, Cotera moved to Austin to take a position with the Texas State Library, and there her activism for both Mexican-Americans and women began.
She became involved with the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations, known by the acronym PASSO, the farmworkers movement and, alongside other Texas educators, formed Texans for the Educational Advancement of Mexican Americans.
Cotera had the foresight to realize that Latin people needed to mobilize for their place in society, but also for their place in education and history.
Cotera’s activism and contributions to the Chicano movement would continue for the next half century.
Notable contributions and highlights of her career include establishing Mujeres Por La Raza, the women’s caucus of the Raza Unida Party, a radical political party founded in Crystal City in the 1970s. In 1975, she began working as a consultant for the Benson Latin American Library and, for the next 25 years, worked to locate, preserve and raise awareness of Latin archives and history. Alongside her activism and work in archives and libraries, Cotera extensively published on the history and contributions of Mexican-Americans and Mexican-American women in books and in public education curriculum.
When remembering the 1977 National Women’s Conference, Cotera notes the event’s “unfulfilled mandate” and restates the conference’s call to action from both men and women:
“Aqui estamos, y no nos vamos.” (We’re here, and we’re not leaving.)
For me this battle cry resonates, in and out of the archive.