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Excavating Mexican American Voices In California History: The California Testimonials, Michelle E. Morton

Latin American Studies ETDs

In the 1870s, a series of interviews were taken of Hispanic native Californians, or Californios as they call themselves, by the assistants of Anglo American historian Hubert Howe Bancroft. Many of these interviews, or testimonials as they are commonly referred to, have never been published in their entirety and have received little scholarly attention. This thesis focuses on Hispanic women in particular, the Californias, and the insight they provide into the day to day life of early Spanish, Mexican and American California.

After the Mexican-American War of 1846 many Californio families lost their properties to American settlers. Throughout the …