Title: Julian Nava Papers,

Date (inclusive): 1970-2000

Collection number: 400

Creator: Nava, Julian 1927 -

Extent: 12.5 linear feet

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

Abstract: Julian Nava's career has combined civic involvement and teaching in the United States and in Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Spain. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico—he was the first Mexican American appointed to this position—and on the governing board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. He helped organize the creation of UC MEXUS (University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States), a bi-national research institute that facilitates and encourages scholarly exchange. This collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, personal papers documenting his family history, organizational records and academic materials reflecting his work as an educator and a civic leader, and videos, clippings, and photographs in each of these areas.



Researchers who would like to indicate errors of fact or omissions in this finding aid can contact the research center at www.chicano.ucla.edu

Physical location: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library for paging information.

Language of Material: Collection materials in English, Spanish

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library for paging information.

Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

[Identification of item], Julian Nava Papers, 400, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles.

This collection was donated by Julian Nava in 2004.

Processed by Michael Stone and Josue Reynaga, 2004; 2012

Processing Note Processed by Michael Stone and Josue Reynaga in 2006 and 2013 at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Processing of this collection was generously supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Julian Nava was born in East Los Angeles in 1927 to a Mexican immigrant family of eight children. A graduate of Roosevelt High School, Nava, like many Latinos of his generation, had not been encouraged by school counselors to plan for college. He volunteered for service during WWII in the U.S. Naval Air Corps, and after completing his tour and returning home, he decided to take advantage of the GI Bill and return to school. He received a BA in 1951 from Pomona College and an MA and, in 1955, a PhD in Latin American history from Harvard University.



Nava is a professor emeritus of history at California State University, Northridge, where he taught from 1957 to 2000. In 1967 he won a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education and was subsequently elected to serve four more terms. In this office he attempted to address student concerns voiced during the 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts by using his position to champion for bilingual education, culturally inclusive curriculum, and the need to hire more African American and Mexican American administrators. From 1967 to1968 he served on President Lyndon Johnson's Inter-Agency Cabinet Committee on Mexican American Affairs.



He was the first Mexican American to be appointed as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, serving from 1980 to 1981 under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. In this capacity Nava helped organize the creation of UC MEXUS (University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States), a bi-national research institute that facilitates and encourages scholarly exchange. He continued to promote dialog by consulting in the area of cross cultural program development within school districts and universities in the United States and abroad.



He has served as a board member for Plaza de la Raza, the Hispanic Urban Center, the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, and the board of trustees of Pomona College. He has also served on the advisory committee for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).



Nava is the author and editor of several articles and books on the Chicano and Latino experience. As an extension of his academic interests, he has produced several videos that promote international understanding. These include Song of the Basque (1995) and Voices of Cuba (1996), as well as television specials on Estonia, China, and Serbia.

The materials in this collection document Julian Nava's life and career as an educator, politician, ambassador, and documentarian. Included are items that highlight his participation on the Inter-Agency Cabinet Committee on Mexican American Affairs, articles authored by him, articles related to his research, papers related to his mayoral campaign in Los Angeles, materials related to Mexico-U.S. trade and immigration, papers related to his family's genealogy, documents related to his ambassadorship to Mexico, organizational records related to his video productions, materials produced during his time on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, and papers related to his teaching career at California State University, Northridge.

Julian Nava Papers, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California State University Los Angeles



Julian Nava Papers, Oviatt Library, California State University Northridge



Edward Ross Roybal Papers, UCLA Library Department of Special Collections



Edward R. Roybal Papers, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center



Grace Montanez Davis Papers, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center



American GI Forum of CA Records, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center



Ricardo Munoz Papers, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center



Dionicio Morales Papers, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.