Vela Family letters, 1926-1927

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Summary

Creators:
Vela, Valentín and Vela, María Corona
Abstract:
Correspondence between Vela family members written primarily as one brother prepares to immigrate from Mexico to the United States.
Extent:
.25 linear feet
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: Spanish
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Vela Family letters , MS125, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of five letters written amongst the Vela family siblings: Margarito Corona Vela, Valentín Vela, and María Corona Vela. The focus is largely on Magarito's immigration.

Biographical / historical:

Margarito Vela (1878-1973) lived in Guanajuato, Mexico with his wife, Juana (1903-1965), and two daughters, Dolores and Julia. In 1926 Margarito and his family immigrated to the United States along wife Juana’s father, Juan Vargas (1860-1952). They took a train from Guanajuato to Juarez and from Juarez crossed the International Bridge into El Paso, Texas. The family paid eight dollars per person to enter El Paso on 1926 November 8. They eventually joined Margarito’s older brother, Valentín, in Sawtelle, California, a small community within Santa Monica. His father-in-law, Juan, worked in the Long Beach shipyards until the end of World War I in 1918.

Margarito and his family left Mexico at the start of the Cristero Rebellion, a wide-spread struggle lasting from 1926 to 1929 between many central-western Mexican states against the anti-Catholic Mexican government. The Vela brothers received updates on the rebellion from their sister, María, who remained in Guanajuato.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Albert V. Vela, P.h.D. Accession number: 2016.37.
Arrangement:

The letters are arranged in chronological order.

Physical location:
Section H, Aisle 67, Row B, Bay 1, Shelf 6
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.

Terms of access:

Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Vela Family letters , MS125, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Location of this collection:
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659, US
Contact:
(310) 338-5710
Special.Collections@lmu.edu
Website