Browse Exhibits (2 total)

Mexican American Experiences in the 20th Century: Amplifying a History of Activism and Advocacy

This exhibit will draw on materials from the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and the LLILAS Benson Latin American Collection to highlight stories of the Mexican American experience in Texas during the 20th century. The exhibit begins in the 1910s with the upheaval of the Mexican Revolution and ends in the 1990s with important educational and artistic movements occurring within Tejano communities. While these materials can be viewed in isolation from one another, we hope to impress that what links these selected materials is the impact that these hidden histories have had on the discourse and participation in activism and advocacy for Tejano communities. The materials presented demonstrate how different facets of Tejano activism and advocacy came into existence and operated at different points in the 20th century, and acted as a foundation for successive generations to either build upon or proliferate in new directions.

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Reclaiming Sexualities: An Exploration of Marginalized Sexuality in the 20th Century

While our project as a whole focuses broadly on America's hidden histories, this exhibit is specifically dedicated to the histories of groups who have been oppressed because of their sexuality or sexual identity. Each of these collections interacts with the idea of reclaiming sexuality through revolutionary empowerment for these marginalized groups, with a particular focus on the experiences of women and queer people.

The colletions are expansive in topic and intersectional in nature. The Morris Ernst papers cover a 1929 court case concerning women's reproductive rights and explore the extensive history of legal figures using moralistic rhetoric to disenfranchise women in 20th century America. The documents that cover "The Great Lesbian Wars" examine class tensions and other issues within the Political Lesbian Movement and broader lesbian community of the transformative 1960s. Meanwhile, the Feminist Zines collection of the 1970s explores the progression of various "waves" of the feminist movement and examines both the strengths and problems of this controversial movement through a display of homemade alternative magazines. Finally, the Noticias collection delves into a narrative about a gay Hispanic community in Houston, Texas during the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis. 

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