The Hispanic Presence on The Great Plains: An Introduction

Authors

Miguel A. Carranza, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

1990

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly SPRING 1990 .Copyright 1990 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

Abstract

In April 1989, the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sponsored its thirteenth annual symposium on the topic "The Hispanic Presence on the Great Plains." Scholars from across the United States and Mexico presented papers on a wide variety of topics covering the history, culture, politics, and images of people of Spanish origin on the Great Plains. These presentations focused on the Hispanic presence from the early Spanish explorers who entered the southern fringes of the Great Plains, to the vast migrations of Mexicans coming to "EI Norte" beginning in the early 1900s, to the creation and maintenance of Chicano communities up to the present day. This unique combination of Spanish, Mexican, and Chicano influences has resulted in the stablishment of a "Hispanic presence" on the Great Plains. Additionally, the symposium focused on both the southern and northern regions of the Great Plains. The northern Plains is often overlooked as a valuable source of knowledge about Hispanics, so its inclusion should provide a valuable tool for future comparative research among Hispanic groups as well as between Hispanics and non-Hispanics.