Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives
Title: Carlos Montes Papers
Identifier/Call Number: UA.2014.001
Physical Description:
12.34 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1948-2014
Abstract: The East Los Angeles Archives (ELAA) is comprised of collections which document the lives and events of a historical community
central to the social, political, and cultural history of the Chicano/Latino community in the United States. The ELAA is a
program that advances scholarship in Chicano/Latino studies and Los Angeles history through its varied collection of primary
research materials. This archives has a special interest in materials documenting the Chicano and Civil Rights movements in
East Los Angeles during the 1960s and 1970s.
Language of Material:
English
.
The Carlos Montes Papers is the physical property of California State
University, Los Angeles, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, Special Collections
and Archives.
Folder title, Series, Box number, Collection title, followed by
Special Collections and Archives, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, California
State University, Los Angeles
The collection is organized into twelve series: I. Subject/Topical
Files; II. Legal Document; III. Publications; IV. Newsletters;
V. Clippings; VI. Newspapers; VII. Announcements & Flyers; VIII.
Correspondence; IX. Scrapbook; X. Photographs; XI. Posters; XII. Ephemera
Carlos Montes (1947- ) is a nationally respected leader in the Chicano, immigrant
rights, and anti-war movements. Montes was born December 28, 1947 in El
Paso, Texas while his family lived in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. He lived his
early childhood in the border town of Juarez, in 1956 his family moved to South
Los Angeles the Florencia area, and later to Boyle Heights and East L.A.
Montes' father worked in a factory assembly line manufacturing coffee tables as
a member of the Carpenters Union industrial section, while his grandfather,
Alejandro Alvarado, was a member of Pancho Villa's revolutionary army. His
family was raised with stories told by his mother of the Mexican revolution.
Montes graduated from Miramonte Elementary School, Hollenbeck Junior High
School and James A. Garfield High School. At East Los Angeles College (ELAC),
Montes joined the Mexican American Student Association in 1967, after
participating in student government. He founded the La Vida Nueva Chicano
student group at ELAC, organizing and fighting for the first Chicano Studies
department at ELAC. He also took part in founding the Movimento Estudiantil de
Aztlán (MECHA).
While attending ELAC, Montes worked as a teen post director in Lincoln Heights
on Broadway, where he met Father John Luce of the Church of the Epiphany and
Eliazar Risco, editor of La Raza newspaper. There, he was introduced to the
Young Chicanos for Community Action and La Pyrana Coffee House in East
L.A., where the Brown Berets, a Chicano revolutionary group fighting for
self-determination, were started. He was a leader and one of the founders of the
original Brown Berets and became the minister of information, the spokesperson
for the group.
As a leader in the Brown Berets, he organized the first protest at the East L.A.
Sheriff's station against police brutality in the winter of 1967. He helped to lead
the Brown Berets into a national organization with chapters in the Southwest.
Additionally, he was a leader and organizer in the historic East L.A. Walkouts in
March of 1968, which led to major reforms and changes in the Los Angeles
Unified School District. He was indicted by a secret L.A. County Grand Jury and
arrested for conspiracy to disrupt the school system with many other charges in
what became known as the East L.A. 13 case; charges later dropped.
In 1968, Montes participated in the first National Chicano Youth Liberation
Conference in Denver Colorado, where the Plan Espiritual de Aztlán was
formulated and the demand for self-determination for the Chicano Nation was
popularized. He worked to forge alliances with the Black Panther Party and
supported the Free Huey Newton political prisoner's campaign.
He participated in organizing the first Chicano Moratorium in December 1969
against the war in Vietnam. This led to the historic August 29, 1970, National
Chicano Moratorium when more than 20,000 Chicanos protested the high
casualty of Chicanos in the Vietnam War, and the killing of Mexican American
journalist, Ruben Salazar.
Montes was married to Olivia Velasquez in January 1970. Due to the heavy
repression and threats, they went underground and lived in Mexico in 1970. Later
they settled in the Juarez El Paso area. Montes worked in El Paso as a carpenter
with the International Brotherhood of Carpenters, building public housing. He also
worked as a maintenance mechanic at Farah textile plant, as a steel worker at
Phelps Dodge copper refinery, and Thomson General Hospital as a maintenance
mechanic. Montes and Olivia raised two children—Felicia, who is a cultural
activist with Mujeres de Maíz in Lak Ech, a teacher and union organizer, and
Reies, who is a local fire fighter and active in his union.
Montes later became a member of the L.A. Chapter of the Community Service
Organization (CSO) and also on the Board of the CSO Credit Union. As part of
the CSO in the early 1990s, Montes was involved with several campaigns
against police killings by the L.A. County Sheriff's office. He was also part of the
reform campaign of the L.A. Sheriff's during the Koltz Commission.
He was a leader in the reorganizing as well as the 20th commemoration of the
National Chicano Moratorium in 1990, where more than 5,000 people marched
and rallied the historic route to Salazar Park and opposed the first war on Iraq.
Under the leadership of Montes in the late 1990s, the Centro CSO along with
local parents formed the city of Boyle Heights, and led a Clean Schools
Campaign. He helped to initiate the Schools Not War campaign, demanding a
new high school in Boyle Heights to relieve the overcrowding at Roosevelt H.S.,
and an end to military recruitment on the campus. He was instrumental in
winning a new school, Mendez Learning Complex, now built in Boyle Heights. He
helped to found the Latinos against War group in 2003, which led marches and
teach-ins in East Los Angeles and supported the citywide opposition to the war in
Iraq.
In May 2004, he joined Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 660 as a
field representative organizer and was assigned to the L.A. County Health
Department, where he fought for workers' rights and helped found the SEIU
International Latino Caucus. He was later assigned to the LAC+USC Medical
Center, where he organized Black, Latino and Asian members to unite and work
together to improve working conditions.
Montes also helped organize and initiate a large march and rally demanding
legalization and end to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at
the 10-year anniversary of the mass protest against the racist 187 State initiative.
He pushed SEIU 660 and other locals to support the March 25 and May 1 mega
marches for immigrant rights and against the Sensenbrenner bill that attacked
immigrants. In 2007, he was arrested for civil disobedience protesting the ICE
raids and supporting Elvira Arellano, an immigrant rights leader, who was
deported August 18, 2007.
Montes also worked on the campaign to defeat McCain and the fight for
immigration reform and the end the racist ICE raids. He participated in the major
protest march against the Republican National Committee on September 1,
2008. The FBI began to infiltrate the March on the RNC Committee and the local
Anti-War Committee, which Carlos endorsed and helped mobilize.
Currently, he is on the steering committee of the Southern California Immigration
Coalition and a volunteer organizer with Centro CSO, organizing parents to
promote public education and to resist the privatization attack by charter schools
in East L.A. In October 2012, he was elected to the Boyle Heights Neighborhood
Council and chairs the Transportation Environment Committee. This committee
has initiated several pro-immigrants' rights resolutions in support of driver's
licenses for the undocumented and end to the police car impounds of unlicensed
drivers.
The materials in this collection was created from 1948-2014. The bulk of the
collection includes subject/topical files and legal documents most of which were
maintained with the original title given by Carlos Montes upon donation. The
subject/topical files contain information on various groups and activities, which,
Montes played an active role in such as PODER (Proactive Organization
Dedicated to Empowerment of Raza) and the 1968 Blowouts. The legal
documents pertain to the State of California vs Carlos Montes, Biltmore Case
and the East LA 13 court case. Smaller series include publications, newsletters,
newspaper clippings, newspapers, political announcements and flyers,
correspondence, posters, scrapbook, and ephemera.
Series I: Subject/Topical Files
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1994
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This large series consists of subject/topical files of Carlos Montes participation
and activity in the Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based non-government
educational organization, Cuba, Community Advisory Committee for the Los
Angeles Sheriff's Department, PODER (Proactive Organization Dedicated to
Empowerment of Raza, and the Blowouts in 1968.
Series II: Legal Documents
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1979
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This large series consists of legal documents pertaining to the political trial for the
Biltmore case, Biltmore case grand jury indictment, and legal transcripts of the
court proceedings from the East LA high school walkouts prosecution.
Series III: Publications
Inclusive Dates: 1948-2012
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This small series consists of the Los Angeles Magazine with an article featuring
Carlos Montes. It also includes an article titled Un-American Activities, in
California, containing information of the development of the Brown Berets. In
addition, it includes an article titled Latino Empowerment Los Angeles Postwar
Dreams and Cold War Fears, 1948 – 1952 by Kenneth C. Burt and Mexican
Grassroots and Social Movements by Laura Carlsen.
Series IV: Newsletters
Inclusive Dates: 1993-1994
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
The bulk of this series consists of newsletters from PODER (Proactive
Organization Dedicated to Empowerment of Raza) Newsletter. Other newsletters
include The ROC, LA Voz de Nueva Maravilla, Resist, and Copwatch.
Series V: Clippings
Inclusive Dates: 1971-1994
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This small series consists of small and oversized newspaper clippings. The older
newspaper clippings from 1971 include information about the role of an
undercover officer in the Biltmore case. The series also includes newspaper
clippings from 1977 – 1978 with titles, Carlos Montes frame-up: Repression
against Chicano Movement, Carlos Montes Back From Exile, Chicano Activist
Fights L.A. Frame-up, and Force the State to Free Carlos Montes.
Series VI: Newspapers
Inclusive Dates: 1969-2012
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This small series consists of four newspapers, Lucha Y Resiste! La Causa, La
Raza, and Tribune. A noteworthy first edition of La Causa newspaper contains a
poster of Carlos Montes and includes La Raza edition about the murder of
journalist, Ruben Salazar.
Series VII: Announcements and Flyers
Inclusive Dates: 1977-2014
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This small series consists of announcements and flyers for Justice for Carlos
Montes, Free Carlos Montes, and Drop All Charges against Carlos Montes. The
bulk of this series were produced by PODER (Proactive Organization Dedicated
to Empowerment of Raza).
Series VIII: Correspondence
Inclusive Dates: 1979-1994
Arrangement: Alphabetical and there under chronological
This very small series consists of letters to Carlos Montes showing support for
the Justice for Carlos Montes Committee.
Series IX: Scrapbook
Inclusive Dates: 1977-1978
Arrangement: Maintained in original order by the creator
The scrapbook materials were removed from damaged original binder and
placed in a file folder for preservation. The scrapbook contains announcements,
flyers, newspaper articles, and correspondence depicting Carlos Montes fight for
justice and community support through 1977-1978.
Series X: Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1980
Arrangement: Alphabetical
This series contains photographs depicting the Anti-Bakke Racism Protest March
Rally, San Francisco, CA, 1971, Carlos Montes Speaking at MECHA Rally
Ventura College, 1978, Protest in Front of L.A. Criminal Court Building, and
photographs of Carlos Montes held in the Los Angeles Police Department Files.
Series XI: Posters
Inclusive Dates: undated
Arrangement: Alphabetical
This small series contains two posters, Defend the right to speak freely! which
depicts Carlos Montes protesting for education, against FBI harassment, and
war. The other poster was created by the Justice for Carlos Montes Committee
and David Dominguez Justice Committee announcing a benefit dance including
Teatro Urbano.
Series XII: Ephemera
Inclusive Dates: 1978
Arrangement: None
This small series contains four items: two buttons one of which depicts the image
of Carlos Montes wearing a brown beret and one stating, "Chicano Power." The
other two ephemera pieces include raffle ticket packet for a $1.00 donation for
Justice for Carlos Montes Committee and a fabric banner titled, Sindicato Unico
De Trabajadores De Autotransportes Urbanos De Pasajeros R100, u.d.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California--East Los Angeles
Chicano Movement
Chicano Movement -- Chicano civil rights movement