Raúl Salinas papers, circa 1950-2007

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Summary

Creators:
Raúlrsalinas, 1934-2008
Abstract:
Raúl R. Salinas (1934-2008), also known as raúlrsalinas, was a Chicano poet, writer, teacher and activist.
Extent:
80 Linear Feet
Language:
English , Spanish; Castilian .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Raul Salinas Papers (M0774). Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

The materials in the collection span from the 1950s through 2007, and they consist of printed, visual and oral texts. Raul Salinas' writing and political activism reflect a multiplicity of interests and a hybrid of influences. His poetry is formally influenced by the Beat Movement in American literature but derives much of its force from Chicano culture and politics. His literary and political work also evidences his debt to, and influence upon, the American Indian movement and Latin American politics; in this way, Salinas' work typically crosses national traditions and generic forms. The content of the collection is extensive and varied.

Series 1 houses the original manuscripts of Salinas' published and unpublished poetry, essays, and journalism. For example, the original manuscripts of poems which ultimately compose Un Trip Through the Mind Jail y Otras Excursions (Pocho Che, 1980) are herein preserved. Also included are unpublished works such as El Embruje de mi Tio Juan and Tu Mujer; a collection of poetry; and several other manuscripts at varying levels of completion. Other works represented in the collection are East of the Freeway: Reflections de mi Pueblo and Indio Trails: A Chicano Odyssey through Indian Country.

Series 2 gathers correspondence from the mid-1960s through 1994. These materials trace Salinas' literary and political development through debate and dialogue with such figures as Americo Paredes, Tomas Rivera, Luis Valdez, Jose Montoya, Ricardo Sanchez, Reimundo "Tigre" Perez, Alurista, Juan Felipe Herrera, Fernando Algeria, Francisco Alarcon, Javier Pacheco, Gary Soto, Tomas Ybarra-Frausto, Nina Serrano, Roberto Vargas, Jose Angel Gutierrez, Jose Limon, Joseph Sommers, Stan Steiner, Carlota Cardenas Dwyer, Marcela Trujillo, Lauro Flores, Tom Parson, Juan Rodriguez, Juan Bruce-Novoa, Antonia Castaneda, Leonard Peltier, John Trudell, William Kunstler, and others, including many prisoners whom Salinas met during incarceration. Salinas' prison experiences, which date from 1957 through 1972, contributed significantly to his development as artist, activist, and scholar.

Among other documents, Series 3 includes landmark litigation initiated by various prisoner-rights groups, of which Salinas was an active member. Salinas' activities with the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and the International Indian Treaty Council, for which he served as a delegate, spokesperson, and translator, are documented in Series 10. This portion of the Collection includes official reports and position papers, many of which he co-authored, as well as internal correspondence related to such cases as Wounded Knee and the Pine Ridge incident, which ultimately involved Leonard Peltier.

The collection contains Salinas' assortment of rare literary and political texts, journals, magazines, and newspapers in Series 8. Among these are Fuego de Aztlan (1976); Corazon de Aztlan (1971), La Voz de Aztlan (Vol. 1, Nos. 1-2), Aztlan de Leavenworth (1970-71); New Era (1970-71); La Raza (Vol. 1, Nos. 1-12), El Travieso (1969); Miquiztli (de Estanfort) (1972-1977); Canto al Pueblo (1978); El Pocho Che (all editions); Rasca Tripas (1970); Regeneracion (1970); Magazin (Vol. 1, Nos. 1-9); Sin Fronteras (all editions); Tejidos (all editions); and Con Safos (all editions). Additionally, Salinas has preserved original copies of all the journals, magazines, and anthologies where his work first appeared.

The collection houses various personal documents, photographs, videos, recordings, and an assortment of miscellaneous items such as fliers, posters, buttons, and decals (for instance, those of Floricanto, Canto al Pueblo, and other festivals).

Series 5 contains photographs of performers at the First Annual Floricanto Festival held at the University of Southern California Campus in 1973, as well as numerous photos from the Huntsville, Leavenworth, and Marion prisons.

In 2025, the additional material acquired from Salinas in 2009 was processed and described as Series 14-26. This addenda includes published and unpublished writing by Salinas and many others, correspondence, newspaper & magazine clippings, and ephemera related to Chicanismo, politics, radicalism and the arts, as well as files about Austin, Texas. The amount of material here is perhaps larger than that of the initial accession, and in certain subject areas there is a substantial amount added to the collection. For instance, the collection now contains more of his Native/Indigenous rights activism, as well as additional files from Resistencia Bookstore and Red Salmon Press. Much of the material was generated after the first accession was received, i.e. the late 1990s and 2000s.

Biographical / historical:
CHRONOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY (THROUGH 1994)
Date Event
1934-1936
San Antonio, Texas.
1936-1956
Austin, Texas.
1956-1957
Los Angeles, California.
1957-1959
Soledad State Prison, California.
1959-1961
Austin, Texas.
1961-1965
Texas State Prison, Huntsville, Texas.
1963-1965
Publishes prose; poetry; and "The Quarter Notes," a monthly jazz column for The ECHO (Huntsville, TX).
1965-1967
Austin, Texas.
1967-1971
U.S. Federal Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas.
1969-1971
Assistant editor of New Era Prison Magazine, Leavenworth Penitentiary
1969
Cofounder of Chicanos Organizados de Rebeldes de Aztlan, study group at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Kansas.
1970-1971
Editor and writer for Aztlan de Leavenworth (prison journal publication).
1971-1972
U.S. Federal Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois.
1971-1972
Member of Federal Prisoners International Coalition, Federal Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois
1972
Drafting committee member for "Brainwashing Techniques in Prison" (report on prison abuses). Marion, IL.
1972-1976
Member of Centro de la Raza; Assistant Director, Jose Marti Day Care Center; cofounder of Resistencia Bookstore in the Centro, Seattle, Washington
1972-1977
Seattle, Washington.
1973
publishes Viaje/Trip (chapbook) Providence: Brown University.
1973
Counselor for Office of Minority Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle
1974
Edits Vortice (journal). Stanford: Stanford UP.
1974
Reads for Festival Flor y Canto I, U.S.C.
1974
Reads for Festival Sexto Sol, Stanford University.
1974
Reads for Festival Santa Clara.
1974 -1976
Member of the American Indian Movement Northwest Chapter; presenter for Indian/Chicano Education, Seattle, Washington.
1975 -1977
Media Spokesperson and Trail Coordinator for Survival of American Indians, Frank's Landing, Washington.
1977 -1978
San Francisco, California.
1975
Participates in Venceremos Brigade to Cuba.
1976
Coordinates Cross-country Educational Caravan, Trail of Self Determination, Washington State to Washington D.C.
1977
Participates in Venceremos Brigade to Cuba
1977 -1980
Cofounder of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Seattle, Washington; Rapid City, South Dakota; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1978 -1979
Lecturer, Spanish and Portuguese, Chicano Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
1978 -1980
Seattle, Washington
1979
Spokesman for Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Puerto Rico.
1980
Spokesman for Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Canada.
1980
Publishes Un Trip Through the Mind Jail y Otras Excursions. San Francisco: Editorial Pocho Che, 1980.
1980 -1985
Austin, Texas.
1980-1986
Leonard Peltier Support Group (founder), Austin, Texas
May 1980
Representative for Leonard Peltier at Canto Al Pueblo: A Four Arrows Symposium, Mesa, Arizona.
July 1980
Participates in Annual Youth and Elders Conference, Philip Deere's Camp, Okemah, Oklahoma.
May 1981
Leads four-person delegation to Yellow Thunder Camp, South Dakota.
June 1981
Leads four-person Austin delegation to Annual Memorial, Oglala, South Dakota.
1981
Spokesperson for Leonard Peltier Defense Committee at the NGO Conference on Indigenous Philosophy and the Land in Geneva, Switzerland.
1981
Delegate and translator, International Indian Treaty Council, Nicaragua (for U.N. Seminar on Racial Discrimination).
1981
Board Member of El Centro Chicano, Austin, Texas.
1981-1984
League of United Chicano Artists (LUChA), Board Member; Cultural Advisor Co-Director (1988-1990).
1981 -1985
Visiting Lecturer in RTF and CMAS, University of Texas at Austin.
1981, '82, '87
Consultant and international delegate, International Indian Treaty Council.
1982
Participates in Venceremos Brigadeto Cuba.
January 1982
Attends American Indian Movement (AIM) Summit & Leadership Conference, San Francisco, CA.
June 1982
Leads four-person delegation from Austin to June 26 Memorial, Oglala, South Dakota.
1982 -1994
Proprietor, Resistencia Bookstore, Austin, Texas.
1982-1994
Founder, editor, and publisher, Red Salmon Press, Austin, Texas.
July 1984
Attends International Indian Treaty Conference, Sisseton-Wahpheton Reservation, South Dakota. Austin delegation representing the LPDC and Artistas Indigenas.
1985 -1986
St. Louis, Missouri.
1985 -1986
Campaign Coordinator, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (St. Louis, Missouri).
1986 -1994
Austin, Texas.
1986 -1989
Youth counselor, South Austin Youth Services.
1987
Delegate and interpreter for International Indian Treaty Council in Geneva, Switzerland,
1987
Delegate for International Indian Treaty Council in Tripoli, Libya, North Africa
1988-1994
Workshop coordinator, Communities in Schools, Austin, TX.
1990
Reads at Inter-American Book Fair, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, Texas.
1991
Reads at First Netzahualcoytl Poetry Festival, Mexican Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois.
1992
Translates for reading by Ernesto Cardenal, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, Texas.
1993
Reads at Inter-American book fair at Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, Texas.
1993-1994
Member, City of Austin Charter Review Committee.
1994
East of the Freeway: Reflections de mi Pueblo. Austin:Red Salmon Press, 1994.
February 2008
Salinas passes away after a long battle with cancer

Raul/Roy/"Tapon" Salinas was born in San Antonio, Texas on March 17, 1934. He was raised in Austin, Texas from 1936 to 1956, when he moved to Los Angeles. In 1957 he was sentenced to prison in Soledad State Prison in California. Over the span of the next 15 years, Salinas spent eleven years behind the walls of state and federal penitentiaries. It was during his incarceration in some of the nation's most brutal prison systems that Salinas' social and political consciousness was shaped. His prison years were prolific ones, including creative, political, and legal writings, as well as an abundance of correspondence. In 1963, while in Huntsville, he began writing a jazz column called "The Quarter Note" which ran for eighteen months. In Leavenworth he played a key role in founding and producing two important prison journals, Aztlan de Leavenworth and New Era Prison Magazine. It was in these journals that his poetry first circulated and gained recognition within and outside of the prison walls.

As a spokesperson, ideologue, educator, and jailhouse lawyer of the prisoner-rights movement, Salinas also became an internationalist who saw the necessity of making alliances with others. This vision continued to inform his political and poetic practice. Initially published in the inaugural issue of Aztlan de Leavenworth, "Trip thru a Mind Jail" (1970) became the title piece for a book of poetry published by Editorial Pocho Che in 1980. With the assistance of several professors and students at the University of Washington Seattle, Salinas obtained early release from Marion Federal Penitentiary in 1972. As a student at the University of Washington, Salinas worked in various community development projects and forged alliances with Native American groups in the Northwest, a relationship that was to intensify over the next fifteen years. Although Salinas writes of his experiences as a participant in the Native American Movement, it is a dimension of his life that has received scant attention. In the twenty-two years since his release from Marion, Salinas' involvement with various political movements has earned him an international reputation as an eloquent spokesman for justice. Salinas literary reputation in Austin has also given him recognition as the poet laureate of the East Side. His literary work is perhaps most widely known for its street aesthetics and a sensibility which documents the interactions, hardships, and strife of barrio and prison life. The influence of jazz within his oeuvre connects it with the work of Beat Generation poets, musicians, and songwriters. His poetry collections include dedications, references, and responses to Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Charles Parker, Herschel Evans, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, for example.

This guide was written by Emmet Campos, Dana Maya Maynard, Louis Mendoza at the University of Texas at Austin in Spring 1994.

Acquisition information:
Purchased, 1995 and 2009. Accessions 1995-161 and 2009-219.
Arrangement:

The second half of the finding aid, which contains the 2009 addenda, replicates the initial collection arrangement with some exceptions. The material was arranged and described at the box level prior to its receipt at Stanford, and processing mostly involved grouping like material when possible. Material has been reboxed and in most cases refoldered.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Raul Salinas Papers (M0774). Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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