Chávez Esparza family letters mssChávez
Finding aid prepared by Brooke M. Black.
The Huntington Library
July 2017
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on January 13, 2022, by Maggie Hughes.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Chávez Esparza family letters
Creator:
Chávez Esparza (Family)
Identifier/Call Number: mssChávez
Physical Description:
0.8 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1962-1999
Date (bulk): 1962-1973
Abstract: The correspondence between different
branches of the Chávez Esparza family, in Mexico and California.
Language of Material: The material is in Spanish and
English.
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necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Chávez Esparza family letters, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Miroslava Chávez-García and Ebers García, June 2017.
Biographical / Historical
José Chávez Esparza (1933-1981) and María Concepción Alvarado (1945-1981) were both born in
Calvillo, Aguascalientes, Mexico, José had desired to study agricultural engineering after
graduating from sixth grade at the age of sixteen. The realities of poverty meant otherwise,
and he moved to the capital of Aguascalientes, obtaining work in a tailor shop and later
driving a delivery truck. In 1954 José came to the United States as part of the bracero
program, specifically to the Imperial Valley of California, where he lived in Brawley.
Working for J. C. Reeves Ranches, he obtained his green card in the late 1950s and stayed in
the valley until 1972, when he (with his wife María Concepción Alvarado and two children)
moved to San José, California. He obtained work as an industrial worker, his profession
until his death in 1981.
María Concepción Alvarado finished ninth grade in Calvillo in 1963 and held a sales
position in Aguascalientes after her family's move to this state capital city. She also
worked as a traveling saleswoman in cosmetics. After a three year (mostly) epistolary
courtship with José Chávez Esparza, María and José married in 1966. The couple endured a
hard two-year wait at Mexicali for María's green card, and after receiving it, she and José
returned to Brawley. By this time the family numbered two children, who had also received
their residency cards. This included Miroslava Chávez-García, the donor of the Chávez
Esparza family letters. In 1972, the family moved to San José in José's pursuit of a better
job. Here, María was the family's homemaker and worked seasonally as a cannery worker.
The brother of José Chávez Esparza, Jose Guadalupe Francisco "Paco" Chávez Esparza was
born in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1940. He worked as a clerk in city government
there until 1962, when he moved to Mexicali, Baja California. After obtaining U.S. residency
at Mexicali, Paco Chávez became a farmworker in Brawley, California, in 1963 and one year
later moved to San José, California where he still lives. He was a laborer and paint maker
in the Bay Area.
Other names in the collection: Antonio Lozano (Box 1, Folder 1), the second cousin of
María Concepción Alvarado and Paco Chávez's friend. Asunción Alvarado (Box 1, Folder 2),
older sister of María Concepción Alvarado. Rogelio Martínez and Pedro Sánchez, friends of
Paco Chávez Esparza (Box 1, Folder 3 and Box 1, Folder 9). Leovijilda Esparza (Box 2, Folder
1), José and Paco Chávez's mother and wife of José Chávez Torres (Box 1, Folder 13).
"Migrant Longing, Courtship, and Gendered Identity in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands,"
Western Historical Quarterly (Summer 2016), 47 (2): 137-160 by Miroslava Chávez-García.
Scope and Contents
The letters document the lives and activities of different branches of the Chávez Esparza
family, both in Mexico and California. This includes the search for jobs, working
conditions, recreation, economic status, and transnational relations with relatives,
especially courtship and the sending of money. The letters also document the education and
professional career of María Concepción Alvarado in Mexico. The majority of the letters are
in Spanish (a few are in English).
Existence and Location of Copies
Arrangement
The original order was preserved.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mexican Americans -- California -- History -- 20th century --
Sources
Mexicans -- California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Transnationalism -- History
Women -- California
Women -- Mexico
Aguascalientes (Mexico)
California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Mexico -- 20th century
Chávez Esparza family
Concepción Alvarado,
María
Box 1, Folder 1
Antonio Lozano to Paco Chávez
1962-1967
Box 1, Folder 2
Asunción Alvarado to Paco Chávez
1962-1963
Box 1, Folder 3
[Paco Chávez Esparza] to Miscellaneous
1962-1966
Box 1, Folder 4
Rogelio Martínez to Paco Chávez
1962-1965
Box 1, Folder 5
María Concepción Alvarado to José Chávez Esparza
1964-1971
Box 1, Folder 6
José Chávez Esparza to María Concepción Alvarado
1963-1966
Box 1, Folder 7
Juan Chávez to Paco Chávez
1962-1964
Box 1, Folder 8
Father [José Chávez Esparza] to Paco Chávez
1962-1973
Box 1, Folder 9
Pedro Sánchez to Paco Chávez
1962-1964
Box 1, Folder 10
J. Luis López Velasco to PCE [Paco Chávez Esparza]
1962-1966
Box 1, Folder 11
Paco Chávez to Father/Brothers
1963
Box 1, Folder 12
J. Jesús Chávez to Paco Chávez
1962-1966
Box 1, Folder 13
Letters José Chávez Torres
1962-1965
Box 2, Folder 1
Letters Leovijilda Esparza
1963-1967
Box 2, Folder 2
Ildefonso Hernádez to [Paco Chávez Esparza]
1964
Box 2, Folder 3
María del Socorro Salazar to Paco Chávez Esparza
1963-1964
Box 2, Folder 4
Rafael Martínez to Paco Chávez Esparza
1964
Box 2, Folder 5
Jesús Lozano to Paco Chávez Esparza
1963-1965
Box 2, Folder 6
Miscellaneous Letters
1962-1972
Box 2, Folder 7
Letters from relatives to Beatriz Chávez
1971-1990
Box 2, Folder 8
Letters from relatives to Paco Chávez Esparza
1973
Box 2, Folder 9
Antonio Lozano to Paco Chávez Esparza
1998-1999
Box 2, Folder 10
María Concepción Chávez Esparza to María Dolores Salazar
1976
