Collection Guide
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Riddell (Adaljiza Sosa) Papers
D-397
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of Special Collections
Title: Adaljiza Sosa Riddell Papers
Creator:
Riddell,
Adaljiza Sosa
Identifier/Call Number: D-397
Identifier/Call Number: 674
Physical Description:
24.9 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1960-2003
Abstract: The papers contain correspondence, subject files, curriculum
materials, and research materials.
Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request
collections, as many are stored offsite.
Adaljiza Sosa Riddell was a senior lecturer in the Chicana/o Studies program at the University of California, Davis and a
founder of the National Association for Chicano Studies. She was born in Colton, CA on December 12, 1937. She attended the
University of California, Berkeley and received a B.A. in 1960 and her master’s degree in political science in 1962. During
her time at Berkeley, she met and married her husband, William Riddell. Sosa Riddell worked as an elementary school teacher
after graduating while caring for her elderly parents. She then returned to school and became the first Chicana to receive
her Ph.D. in the United States from UC Riverside in 1971.
Dr. Sosa Riddell started teaching at UC Davis in 1971 and became Director of the Chicano Studies program in 1973. She was
a senior lecturer in the Chicana/o Studies program and a keynote speaker at multiple symposiums. These include the Winter
Quarter Chicano Symposium in 1980 where she spoke on the “Political Economy of Chicano Communities in California” and in 1983
as part of the “Spotlight on UCD Women Scholars” series where she presented “Why Faculty Women Need Wives.” She helped run
the La Raza Cultural Days and lectured on “U.S.-Mexico Border Relations – An Overview” in 1991.
She used her position to advocate for Chicanas/os in California and served as a leader for the community. She supported bilingual
ballot measures against Senator Jim Nielsen’s anti-bilingual education campaign in 1998. Sosa Riddell was a founder of the
Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social in 1985 and served as chair from 1985 to 1988. Dr. Sosa Riddell helped to found
the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies and then became the first woman to receive the Scholar of the Year
Award from the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies in 1989. She published multiple articles in The Bilingual
Review, some of which were titled “Political Economy of Chicano Communities” (1989), “Introduction to Chicano Studies” (1989),
and “Chicano Studies in a Pluralistic Society: Contributing to Multiculturalism” (1992). In addition to these, she also published
“Chicanas as Political Actors: Rare Literature, Complex Practice” in National Political Science (1993). In 2006, she wrote
a chapter in Speaking from the Body: Latinas on Health and Culture in which she discusses how Parkinson’s disease has impacted
her and her family’s life. The American Political Science Association developed the Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Mentor Award beginning
in 2011 in which the APSA committee awards a non-monetary certificate for outstanding mentoring of Latino/a students.
Dr. Adaljiza Sosa Riddell retired from teaching in 2004 but continued to mentor students and remained involved with MALCS
and NACCS. Her husband, William Riddell, and daughter, Citlali Lucia Sosa-Riddell, are both active in continuing Sosa Riddell’s
advocacy work.
Correspondence, subject files, curriculum materials, and research materials
Collection is open for research.
Liz Phillips encoded this finding aid with help from student assistant Aditi Sinha. The biography was written by Sacramento
State Public History graduate student Aleksaandra Courtney.
[Identification of item], Adaljiza Sosa Riddell Papers, D-397, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library,
University of California, Davis.
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. 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 Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mexican Americans -- Ethnic identity -- Research
Mexican American women -- Government policy -- Research
Riddell, Adaljiza Sosa
-- Archives
University of California, Davis -- Faculty -- Archives