Description
Ricardo Cruz (1943 - 1993) was a Chicano rights attorney during the Chicano Movement era. He is most well-known for his advocacy
on behalf of the Latino poor people of the Los Angeles area. Cruz was a law school student at the time he founded the controversial
organization known as Catolicos por la Raza. Through this organization, he led demonstrations against the Catholic Church
for its neglect of the Latino community. His collection takes up 13.2 linear feet and is housed in 18 boxes, containing correspondence
files, legal documents, transcripts, photographs, news clippings and ephemera. The preponderance of the Ricardo Cruz Papers,
11 boxes, the Legal Files series, represent his legal cases as a Los Angeles attorney. In this series is found copious information
that sheds light on the forced sterilization of Latinas in Los Angeles during that period, and other legal issues.
Background
Ricardo Cruz was a Chicano rights attorney during the Chicano Movement era. He is most well-known for his advocacy on behalf
of the Latino poor people of the Los Angeles area. Cruz was a law school student at the time he founded the controversial
organization known as Catolicos por la Raza. Through this organization, he led demonstrations against the Catholic Church
for its neglect of the Latino community. He is also know for his successful legal battle against Los Angeles County’s forced
sterilization of undocumented workers, and for his successful defense of a young Latino wrongly convicted of murder.
Extent
13.2 linear feet
(18 boxes)
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Availability
The collection is open for research.