Oral history interview with Leo Montalvo, 1997 [videorecording].

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Oral history interview with Leo Montalvo, 1997 [videorecording].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50399488

Montalvo recalls his successful political campaign against incumbent McAllen mayor Othal Brand and the subsequent suit brought by Brand for a recount. He discusses McAllen voting patterns and statistics, his opinion of why Brand lost the race, the characteristics of Mexican American voters in McAllen, and the growth of Mexican American political power. Montalvo also describes the composition of the McAllen city commission, the structure of city government, and the city's electoral districts and voter distribution. After briefly relating his experience as a school math teacher and assistant principal he shares his introduction to politics; in describing his unsuccessful campaigns for political office in the 1970s Montalvo sheds light on the formation of La Raza Unida party in the area. He explains how he came to be elected to the city commission in 1983 and reveals attitudes toward La Raza Unida party. Montalvo provides details of his family history and information about his siblings, wife and children. He describes instances of discrimination against Mexican Americans and credits education and the rise of a Mexican American professional class with breaking barriers and increasing Mexican American political representation. Montalvo ends by talking of issues in the Rio Grande Valley.

1 videocassette (VHS) (16 min.) : col. ; 1/2 in.Transcript : 52 p. ; 28 cm.

eng,

spa,

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7625286

University of Texas at Arlington, Central Library

Related Entities

There are 6 Entities related to this resource.

University of Texas at Arlington. Center for Mexican American Studies

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63c6s61 (corporateBody)

Brand, Othal.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pp2s3j (person)

Montalvo family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61p77b2 (family)

Gutiérrez, José Angel,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r404b (person)

José Angel Gutierrez was born Oct. 25, 1944, in Crystal City, Texas. An activist, educator, organizer, and lawyer, Gutierrez co-founded the La Raza Unida Party and played many leadership roles in the early Chicano civil rights movement. He served as President of the Crystal City Independent School District Board in the early 1970s and as a County Judge for Zavala County, Tex. (1975-1980). In the 1980s, Gutierrez pursued a teaching career and moved to Oregon where he taught at Colegio Cesar Chav...

Montalvo, Leo,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g770t0 (person)

Montalvo was born in Caderrayta Jimenez, Nuevo Leon (Mexico), on June 9, 1943, and immigrated to the U.S. at age nine. He graduated from Texas A & M University in 1966 and from The University of Texas School of Law in 1981, after which he established a law practice in McAllen, Texas. Montalvo was elected McAllen city commissioner in 1983 and McAllen mayor in 1997. He is the first Mexican American mayor of McAllen. From the description of Oral history interview with Leo Montalvo, ...

Raza Unida Party (Tex.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d262nv (corporateBody)

The Raza Unida Party (RUP) was first established as a third political party in Crystal City, Texas, in January, 1970. As an alternative to the two-party system in Texas, Raza Unida sought social, economic, and political self-determination for Chicanos, other minorities, and the disenfranchised through local and, later, state politics. At its start, the party organized around county, local, and school district elections in south Texas; winning city council elections in Cotulla, Carri...