"I see there is a great future for us"
The title of this page refers to a quote by N. Tetuan, a resident of Oakland, a long-standing Mexican American neighborhood in Topeka, Kansas. She continues to state, "We must learn new skills and speak out in order to be heard. We, as women, must stand up for our rights and our individuality. We must never feel ashamed to be Mexican or feel belittled by it."[1]
Tetuan was interviewed in 1988 for the Fiesta, a popular yearly cultural celebration and fundraiser for Our Lady of Guadalupe, a local church in Oakland. This particular neighborhood church played an integral role in my interviewees' lives. Established in 1921 by the newly immigrated Mexicans with the help of local priests, the church was not only a religious center, but a safe haven for many in the community that provided spiritual, as well as cultural and communal, solidarity. Ultimately, this project reveals how the conservatism of the heartland provided Mexican American women with limited yet critical spaces, such as the Catholic Church, to shape their own distinctive identities and a sense of belonging.
1. N. Tetuan, "La Mujer," Topeka, Kansas Historia Mexicana: Cuando Mexico Canta! 1984, 56.
Hazel Gomez, La Mujer," Topeka, Kansas Historia Mexicana: Cuando Mexico Canta 1984, Hazel and Robert Gomez Collection, Kansas Historical Society.
Mariachi Estrella
From left to right: Linda Rokey Scurlock, Dolores Galvan, Rachel Galvan, Dolores Carmona, Theresa Cuevas, Isabel Gonzales, and Connie “Chae” Alcala
Chicanas Advocating for Equal Rights
Topeka resident Hazel Gomez utilized the cultural networks established by her immigrant parents’ generation to carve out a position of prominence within her community. Gomez was a first-generation Mexican American, born in 1924 to Mexican immigrants from Chihuahua who migrated to Topeka. Her parents never attended school. Hazel also did not attend her classes because her family needed her to work. Both Hazel and her husband Robert were founding members, and each later served as president of the local chapter of the LULAC Council. The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, is the oldest and largest Latinx organization in the U.S. It advocates on behalf of Latinx people for equity in educational attainment, housing, political influence, economic condition, and most importantly, civil rights. [1]
Hazel began to serve her community as a teenager in 1942. She helped organize and eventually became president of the Y-Senoritas club, a group sponsored by the YWCA to provide activities for soldiers stationed in Topeka. Eventually, this group helped her become Queen of Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta in 1943. [1] She became a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. In February 2001, the Kansas Senate passed Resolution No. 1822 in memory of Hazel for over 60 years of community service to the historic community.[2] Hazel was a devoted parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church until her death. She was able to empower herself through the church. Hazel utilized the patriarchal structure of the Catholic church to create her own avenue for political and personal growth, while deeply impacting her community.
[1] Fiesta Queen was a title bestowed on the young Mexican American woman that raised the most money for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
[2] “Robert and Hazel Gomez Collection,” Kansas Historical Society, Accessed October 19, 2021, https://www.kshs.org/archives/227182
[1] “All For One and One For All,” League of United Latin American Citizens, accessed December 8, 2021, https://lulac.org/about/
“It brought me a new way of life. It seemed to me that the music brought me something that made me happy… it made me happy that I accomplished something."
-Teresa Cuevas
Photo Credit: Teresa Cuevas, “A Tribute to Mariachi Estrella,” Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta Mexicana 1982, 2. Hazel and Robert Gomez Collection, Kansas Historical Society.
Quote: “Mariachi Estrella- Ad Astra Per Aspera,” Kansas Humanities Council, May 2, 2011, video, 9:18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzcSze3K5CY
Chicanas Celebrating their Identities
Formed around 1979 by Connie "Chae" Alcala and Teresa Cuevas at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Mariachi Estrella was one of the nation's first all-female mariachi bands. Like Hazel Gomez, this group was able to empower themselves within the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, Mariachi Estrella was short lived. The lives of four members of the band, Connie “Chae” Alcala, Dolores Carmona, Linda Rokey Scurlock, and Dolores Galvan, were cut short on July 17, 1981, as they walked across the skywalk at the Hyatt Regency Center to play that evening. They were among the 114 others to perish in the Hyatt collapse tragedy.
As the group was commemorated by community members the following year for the Fiesta in Topeka, a local community member named Carmen Garcia had this to say, " The band's willingness to work hard, its eager participation in all the church's activities, the sense of belonging to the community, the pride felt in their heritage, the members' quick smiles and cheerful demeanor, all encouraged others in that same spirit of activity and cooperation during the Fiesta." [2]
Shortly before her death, Connie “Chae” Alcala was asked about playing with Mariachi Estrella, she stated, “It’s in my heart, I just want to see it carried on, I don’t want it to die out.”[1] For the Mexican American people in Topeka, the women of Mariachi Estrella exemplified culture and community. The group was a testament to what their immigrant parents built after they arrived in Kansas during the early decades of the twentieth century.
[1] Connie Alcala in A Tribute to Mariachi Estrella. “Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta Mexicana 1982.” Edited by: Carmen Garcia.
[1] Carmen Garcia, 3.
[2] Carmen Garcia, 3.
"This is so much fun!"- Isabel Gonzales
Isabel Gonzales, “A Tribute to Mariachi Estrella,” Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta Mexicana 1982, 2. Hazel and Robert Gomez Collection, Kansas Historical Society.
Connie "Chae" Alcala and Linda Rokey Scurlock, “A Tribute to Mariachi Estrella,” Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta Mexicana 1982, 2. Hazel and Robert Gomez Collection, Kansas Historical Society.