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Valdez (Armando) papers
M0496
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Armando Valdez papers
Creator:
Valdez, Armando
Identifier/Call Number: M0496
Identifier/Call Number: 3475
Physical Description:
8 Linear Feet
(14 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1965-2005
Abstract: Armando Valdez was Associate Director of the Center for Chicano Research at Stanford University before becoming a consultant
for communication, education, and heatlh, and is an active socio-political leader in the Mexican American community of the
San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked with technology access and its use in education and outreach.
Armando Valdez, born January 2, 1944, received his bachelor's degree in Sociology from San Jose State College in January 1967.
Valdez was a work-study student in the Economic Opportunity Program and in 1965 he was assigned to coordinate a special summer
program in the Physics Department of Stanford University designed to recruit Mexican Americans high schoolers in Santa Clara
County. That summer he also drafted a proposal and negotiated an On-The-Job Training (OJT) Program with the US Department
of Labor to establish a San Jose Mexican American Opportunities Center that opened in July 1966.
Between 1965 to 1965 his assignment was to organize a group of San Jose residents to participate in a broad based effort that
later resulted in the establishent of a City Housing Authority. That year, he also founded Student Initiative (SI) at San
Jose State, a student organization dedicated to developing Mexican American student leadership.
In 1966, Valdez cofounded the LA CAUSA Center (Latin American Community Action to Uplift Student Activities), an educational
clearinghouse for Chicano youth in Oakland, California, where he also served as Director. LA CAUSA was a center of recreational
activities for, and provided college counseling to Chicano youth. In 1969-1972, he was Chairman of the Board of La Causa Publications,
a non-profit publishing and distribution center for Chicano educational materials. Later, he was Project Coordinator of Southwest
Network in Hayward, an organization that conducted policy research and acted as a clearinghouse and technical support service
to developing institutions.
After receiving his PhD from the Department of Communications at Stanford University in 1979, with a dissertation on "Socialization
Influences of Television Commercials on Preschool-Age Children," Valdez served as Associate Director of the Center for Chicano
Research.
Around 1990, he left academia and founded Valdez and Associates, a communication consulting practice, to explore approaches
for reaching low-income, language minorities, and other marginalized populations, a career that developed into HealthPoint
Communications.
Series 1-9 consist primarily of records for the organizations and activities Dr. Valdez directed between 1965 and 1977. These
are related to his activities in promoting Mexican American and Chicano achievement in education and political leadership
in the Spanish-speaking community. They include: Student Initiative, San Jose State College; Fruitvale Action Committee,
Oakland; LA CAUSA, Oakland; and Southwest Network, Hayward.
Series 10 contains a survey report for Latino Nonprofit Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Series 11-14 includes reports, publications, and other papers collected during or generated from Valdez's academic and professional
career as a PhD student, Associate Director of the Stanford Center for Chicano Research, and as a consultant and president
of Valdez and Associates (later HealthPoint Communications). Audiovisual material relating to such issues as health, violence
prevention, and foster youth was generated during the latter period.
The collection also contains hard drives and a laptop, with captured files.
[identification of item], Armando Valdez Papers (M0496). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Libraries,
Stanford, Calif.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Born-digital material is not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Armando Valdez, 1985 and 2014. Accessions 1985-002, 2014-106, 2014-107, and 2015-016.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mexican Americans -- Biography
Telecommunication
Education.