university of california, san diego

108 Pages·2011·0.59 MB·English

by  Nathan K Ellstrand

UC San Diego
UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Las Anarquistas : the history of two women of the Partido Liberal Mexicano in early 20th
Century Los Angeles
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/30m022qm
Author
Ellstrand, Nathan Kahn
Publication Date
2011

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

Las Anarquistas: The History of Two Women of the Partido Liberal Mexicano in Early
20th Century Los Angeles

A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements
for the degree Master of Arts

in

Latin American Studies

by

Nathan Kahn Ellstrand

Committee in Charge:

Professor Everard Meade, Chair
Professor Luis Alvarez
Professor Shelley Streeby

2011
Copyright
Nathan Kahn Ellstrand, 2011
All rights reserved.
The Thesis of Nathan Kahn Ellstrand is approved and it is acceptable in quality and form
for publication and electronically:

Chair

University of California, San Diego

2011
iii
DEDICATION

To my parents,
thank you.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Signature Page……………………………………………………………………………iii

Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv

Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………….....v

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….……vi

Abstract of the Thesis …………….…………………………………………………….viii

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1

Chapter 1: Emergence and Development of Talavera and Norman within the
PLM in Los Angeles, 1906-1914………………………...………….…………………...12

Chapter 2: The Intensification of Crises and the Ever-Growing Importance of
the Women in the PLM, 1915-1922…..………………..………………………………..39

Chapter 3: Reframing the PLM through Gender………………………………………...68

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….88

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………..94
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work deserves the appreciation of many people who have aided me in this
process through writing this Master‟s thesis. Without their help and guidance, this would
not have been possible.
First, I would like to thank all of the members of my committee. My chair and
Professor Ev Meade, thank you very much for guiding me in the process of putting
together a thesis from brainstorming, to research, and finally onto paper. Your ideas and
suggestions have helped me the entire way and have consistently pushed me to think
critically. I also would like to thank Professor Luis Alvarez for your comments on my
writing, but most of all, for listening and taking interest in my project. Lastly, thanks go
to Professor Shelley Streeby for your insights and expertise regarding the PLM.
Other professors at UCSD assisted me, particularly in regards to focusing on how
to approach my subject, where to research, and in some cases just providing me with
valuable feedback. Thank you to Professors Eric Van Young, Michael Monteón,
Christine Hunefeldt, Misha Kokotovic, Rosaura Sanchez, Natalia Molina, Pamela
Radcliff, Richard Biernacki, David Gutierrez, Yen Le Espiritu, and Dr. Beatrice Pita.
Were it not for my undergraduate UC Santa Cruz Professors Matt O‟Hara and Kent
Eaton, I would probably not have as much interest in Latin America as I do today.
In regards to research, I am extremely grateful to the Tinker Foundation for
funding my research to the Archivo Histórico “Genaro Estrada” at the Secretaría de
Relaciones Exteriores as well as the Archivo General de la Nación, both in Mexico City.
I am also very grateful to the Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies
(IICAS) Graduate Student Research Travel Grant for supporting my research in
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Sacramento at the California State Archives and the California State Library, in Berkeley
at the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library, in Riverside at the National Archives, and in Los
Angeles at the Los Angeles Public Library and at the UCLA Charles E. Young Research
Library. I would also like to give thanks to these institutions themselves and the people
who work there for helping me find the documents that I needed (and especially to the
archives in Mexico for dealing with my decent, but not great Spanish).
Many UCSD students and staff provided support and encouragement along the
way. Particular thanks must also go to fellow Teaching Assistants in Dimensions of
Culture (DOC): Genevieve Okada, Edward Avila, Nathan Weaver Olson, Jed Mularski,
Megan Strom, Reece Peck, Gloria Kim, Jess Novak, Satoko Kakihara, Niall Twohig,
Lester O‟Connor, Joo Ok Kim, and Chris Perreira, as well as DOC staff Sue Hawkinson
and Amber Carini, DOC administration Dr. Bob Cancel, Dr. Robert Horwitz, and Dr.
Pam Wright for fostering an outlet beyond my thesis and supporting me along the way.
Without my fellow CILASer@s and hours of studying, supporting and complaining, I
couldn‟t have done this. Thanks especially to: Daniella Aviles, Brenda Nicolas,
Katherine Griesbach, Cris Metz, Brie Iatarola, Margaret Copeland, Hannah Gibson,
Emily Puhl, Erika Ramirez, Liz Bartz, Erin Raisner, Nancy Madrid, and Patrick Kearney.
Also, thank you to Julia Schneider and Isela Brijandez for making the process as a MA
student easier. Thanks also to UCSD friends Levi Lewis, Elodie Nunes, Luis Sanchez-
Lopez, Ricardo Fagoaga, Alina Méndez, Marybel Robledo, Raquel Pacheco, and Kyle
McCormick.
Lastly, and most importantly, this could not have been done without the love and
support from my family, and my parents Norman Ellstrand and Tracy Kahn, thank you.
vii
ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

Las Anarquistas: The History of Two Women of the Partido Liberal Mexicano in Early
20th Century Los Angeles

by

Nathan Kahn Ellstrand

Master of Arts in Latin American Studies

University of California, San Diego, 2011

Professor Everard Meade, Chair

This thesis covers the history of the radical liberal and later anarchist Partido
Liberal Mexicano (PLM) by concentrating on two women within the organization, María
Talavera and Lucía Norman. By doing so, it disrupts the traditional narrative of the
organization as centered on Ricardo Flores Magón and showing the women as much
more than simply having a role in the party, but as placed in a gendered group where they
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slowly gained autonomy over time. The paper follows the two women through two
periods in Los Angeles, first noting their emergence in the PLM, and considering their
place in the party as compared to the rhetoric established by male party leaders. The
second period shows how through each successive arrest, trial, and imprisonment of the
men, the women gained power and leadership. Lastly, the paper ends examining where it
falls in and how it diverges from the literature on gender in the Progressive Era, Mexican
Revolution, and PLM, emphasizing these two women as independent and politically
conscious individuals in the midst of the persecution of the party.
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