Scholarly Publications

  • Contributor, “Building Bridges to Higher Education:  The American Dream Academy,” Raul Yzaguirre, Diversity & Democracy:  Civic Learning for Shared Futures, Vol. 13, No. 1, Winter 2010.
  • Contributor, “Measuring Success in Outreach and Engagement:  Arizona State University and the American Dream Academy,” Alejandro Perilla, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Vol. 14, No. 3, 2010.
  • Researcher, “Theater,” State of Latino Arizona, Phoenix: Arizona Latino Research Enterprise and Arizona State University, 2010.
  • Researcher, “Liberty and Justice for All:  Civil Rights in the Years Ahead,” Raul Yzaguirre, in Henry G. Cisneros, ed. Latinos and the Nation’s Future, (Houston:  Arte Público Press, 2009).
  • Bonn, P.A., Garcia, J.E., and Soza, R.A.  Preparing for College:  Enrolling, Educating, and Advancing Latinos.  Report to the Ford Foundation for Arizona State University Center for Community Development and Civil Rights, December 2007.
  • Tipping Point:  Changes in Population and Ethnicity Shape English Language Policy in Arizona’s Laws and Public Classrooms, Master’s thesis, Arizona State University, 2006. Available at High Density Storage Collection Archival Collections (LD 179.15 2006 .B666) and other locations, lib.asu.edu

Articles

D. Arreola, Yzaguirre, R., and Bonn P.A., “Latinos, Others Also Were State’s Pioneers, Arizona Republic, July 11, 2009.

Theatre

Joaquín:  The Life and Times of Joaquín Murrieta, original play produced at Kerr Cultural Center, Scottsdale, Arizona, October 24-26, 2003.

Dancing on Air, original 10-minute play produced for New Carpa Theater Co. short play festival, Performing Justice, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, July 28-29, 2012.

Awards

Second place, Arizona Authors Association 2007 Literary Contest in the Short Story category, Chorizo Con Papas Wrapped in a Dream, November 2007.

Conference Papers

Southwest Council of La Raza: Est. 1968, Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona Historical Society, 60th Annual History Convention, Prescott, AZ, April 11-13, 2019.

Study of the Southwest Council of La Raza (SWCLR), founded in Phoenix in 1968, is missing from the history of the Chicano Movement in Arizona. The name defined geographically and ethnically the intent of the organization. Its members were Mexican Americans in the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas.

Their origins varied from first generation Americans to descendants of the earliest settlers in the northern provinces of New Spain. The goal of equality in American society brought together academics, union organizers, farm workers, artists and activists

Las Familias Valdivia y Vizcarra: Life in la Palestina Barrio, Arizona

Historical Society, 59th Annual History Convention, Tempe, AZ, April 26-28, 2018.

Through the lives of the Santiago Valdivia and Dr. Diaz Vizcarra families the authors explore life in la Palestina barrio during the tumultuous first decades of the twentieth century. Authors Patricia A Bonn and Lorenzo Vizcarra demonstrate how residents of la Palestina barrio were separated from Anglo Phoenix but used their common language and culture to develop a community that would produce a generation who fought in World War II and returned home to fight more their right for equality in education, jobs, housing, and the criminal justice system.

Phoenix at Crossroads: The 1949 Municipal Election

56th Annual Arizona History Convention, Tucson, AZ, April 23-26, 2015. 

The 1949 Phoenix municipal election was a turning point in the history of this desert city. Prior to the election corruption permeated city government including the Police Department. A slate of reformers chosen from the business community to “clean house” set Phoenix on a course to be a prominent city.

Available for reference at Arizona Historical Society-Tucson, location: Stacks; call number: Arizona historical Convention (2015)

Adversarios y Compatricios:

Spanish-Language Newspaper Publishers Battle for the Civil Rights of La Colonia Mexicana of Phoenix, Arizona . . . and Each Other. Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Conference, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, October 9-11, 2014.

Mexican-born Pedro G. de la Lama and Jesús M. Franco strived to provide their community with more than just news.  Their newspapers, Justicia/El Machete and El Sol, were community resources to fight discrimination and provide information about life in the United States. Conflicting ideologies of Americanization or loyalty to Mexico fueled their personal battle for the soul of la colonia Mexicana.

Kactus Klan

Arizona Historical Society 51st Annual History Convention, Yuma, AZ, April 28-30, 2011.

The KKK in the 1920s was a national phenomenon with local agendas.  It appealed to men as a fraternal organization and leading citizens filled its ranks to return to higher moral standards. This paper uses primary documents of Tempe Klan No. 3 to examine motives and membership of a local Klan. 

Available for reference at Arizona Historical Society-Tucson, location: Stacks; call number: Arizona historical Convention (2011)

Phoenix in the Fifties*:  Fun in the Sun *With Restrictions,

Western Historical Association, Incline Village, NV, October 14-16, 2010; Arizona Historical Society and Historical Society of New Mexico, 2017 Arizona/New Mexico History Convention, Flagstaff, AZ, April 20-22, 2017.

In the 1950’s, boosters of the “good life” in Phoenix, Arizona, touted the desert city as an attractive setting for both work and recreation. The promise of colorful desert sunsets and vast landscapes glossed over the complexity of the West and rendered invisible most of the actors in the story—the poor, the person of color, and the female. 

¡No Hay Justicia!  The Execution of Simplicio Torres

Recovering U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project conference, Houston, TX, November 13-15, 2008.

The genesis of this paper is a fragment of a Spanish-language newspaper in Phoenix describing the outrage of la colonia Mexicana at the execution of an insane young Mexican at the state penitentiary.  This paper explores the Torres’ case, death penalty politics, and the role of Arizona Spanish-language newspapers in the protection of Mexican American civil rights, challenging Anglo Americans during a period of border violence and volatile race relations of the 1910s.

Raising the Curtain 

A Study of Latino Theatre in Phoenix 1880 – 1980 presented at Arizona Historical Society 49th Annual History Convention, Chandler, AZ, April 24-27, 2008.

Theatre—drama, music, opera, circus—was the most popular and relevant genre of fine arts in Hispanic communities throughout the United States.  It provided social and cultural cohesiveness and national pride in the face of racial and class pressures of a Spanish-speaking public living in English-speaking American society.

Available for reference at Arizona Historical Society-Tucson, location: Stacks; call number: Arizona historical Convention (2008)

Connecting History and Current Events Via Historical Fiction:

A Discussion of the Play Joaquín:  The Life and Times of Joaquín Murrieta presented at Tri-university/Phi Alpha Theta Southwest Regional Conference, Tempe, AZ, January 21, 2004.

This paper offers an alternative to scholarly publications on local history topics. Via the play Joaquín: The Life and times of Joaquín Murrieta, the topic of the Mexican experience in Gold Rush California—the racism, loss of land and language, rich culture—is woven into the fabric of popular entertainment to enjoy and provoke thoughtful discussion.