A quick overview of the history of the Mexican American community in Tucson from Its Beginnings to the Mid-70s
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
19h ago
Introduction: Back in September 2023, I had the pleasure of participating in a class on Mexican American iconography taught by my colleague Alba Fernandez-Keys in Special Collections . Dr. Jacqueline Barrios is teaching about the history of the murals at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center to a group of undergraduates. She asked me to provide a quick overview of the history of the Mexican American Community in Tucson, and I came up with the following. I didn’t use footnotes or do a lot of reading or research for this. I gave the talk using only what I already knew about our history. The document ..read more
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A Look Back at Chicano Culture in Tucson in the 1970s…
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
1w ago
A map of Tucson from 1975. Chicano culture in the 70s in Tucson Overview Americans of Mexican descent are not homogenous. We are a diverse cultural group, and exist in every socioeconomic bracket, although the vast majority of us are working class or lower middle class. Many of us have been here for generations and can trace our roots back to the building of the Tucson presidio in the 1770s. Others are newly arrived. We do not agree on what to call ourselves. The word Chicano, however, was very popular in the 70s, particularly among young people. Many of us, especially our parents,  nev ..read more
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“Voices for Libraries”, Washington DC, March 6-7, 2024
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
1w ago
I traveled to Washington DC in early March, 2024 to attend the American Library Association’s “Voices for Libraries” gathering, where delegates from all over the country gathered to meet with their Congressional representatives (or their aides) to advocate for library funding for fiscal year 2025. This was the second year I was invited to attend, and like last year’s adventure, it was a great experience. My colleague Erin MacFarlane and I attended training on the first day, and on the second day, we met with representatives from the offices of Senator Kelly, Senator Sinema, Congressman Grijalv ..read more
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My Life Story: 1994
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
1M ago
This particular entry is divided into two parts. The first is the narrative for my life story in 1994. The second part includes a lot of graphics, including photos, postcards, maps, documents, news articles etc. I began the year by continuing to work at the University of Arizona Libraries and living with my partner Ruben in a spacious, two bedroom apartment on the west side of town on Shannon Road, near Pima Community College. I turned 35 in mid-January, and was presented with a beautiful birthday cake that our friend Roberto made for me. It was delicious too. At the end of February, Ruben and ..read more
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“Stonewall 25”: Tucson Gay & Lesbian Pride 1994 Commemorative Program October 8, 1994
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
8M ago
This program includes a historical timeline titled, “A Glimpse at Our History–Tucson Style–. It’s quite interesting!! Click here to see the program ..read more
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My life story: 1993
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
8M ago
As I look back at 1993, I have come to realize that my job was just a part of my life, not my entire life. I’ve delayed writing about this period because I’ve been avoiding writing about the years when I served as Carla Stoffle’s assistant at the University of Arizona Library. In many ways, I felt inadequate, humiliated and burned as the Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity. By the time I stepped down from the job eight years later, I was totally fried. I don’t want to just focus on the bad stuff, however, and I don’t have to, so I’m going to mostly write abou ..read more
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Remembering Tina Turner
Bob's World Blog
by jrdiaz@arizona.edu
10M ago
Most of the material included here–record albums, photos, cds and magazine articles, etc.– comes from my personal archives. However, I’ve added a few videos, photos and graphics from other sources to help tell the story of my lifelong infatuation with the music of Tina Turner.   My earliest recollections of Tina Turner go back to when I was a 12-year old kid watching her on television performing Proud Mary with Ike Turner and the Ikettes back in the early 70s. She had long legs, wore mini-skirts and a long dark brown wig, and could dance and sing like nobody’s business. I can close my ey ..read more
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Instruction Session for the Pima County Genealogical Society, May 10, 2023
Bob's World Blog
by joserobertodiaz@cox.net
11M ago
Welcome to the University of Arizona, the University Library and Special Collections! My name is Bob Diaz. I am a librarian and archivist here in Special Collections. I coordinate our department’s online reference service and am the curator for our collections in the areas of architecture and the performing arts. I will be celebrating my 31st year on the job here at Arizona on June 1. Prior to starting here back in 1992, I was employed at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library as a reference and instruction librarian for over 5 years, and I started my library career as a children’s ..read more
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Our Boston vacation, 2022, Part I…
Bob's World Blog
by joserobertodiaz@cox.net
1y ago
Ruben and I love to travel, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we hadn’t taken a vacation since 2019. This year, however, we decided it was time to get out of town and go somewhere, so we decided to visit Boston again. I’d been there twice in the nineties, once to give a presentation at a conference at Harvard, and another time to visit a friend. Most recently, Ruben and I spent a week there in 2018, and we both really liked it, so we decided to go back. This time we stayed for 10 whole days, and had a great time immersing ourselves in learning more about the history of Boston and its role ..read more
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Christmas, 2022.
Bob's World Blog
by joserobertodiaz@cox.net
1y ago
Covid has messed stuff up for everyone, and the holidays, especially in 2020 and 2021, were a really rough period for people. We lost my buddy Richard in 2020 and Ruben’s dad in 2021. A lot of other friends and family also passed away these past few years. When Christmas came around last month, however, things were looking better, and I was determined to make this holiday season a more enjoyable experience for me and Ruben. And indeed, it turned out to be a much more pleasant holiday than the last few have been. This has become my favorite Christmas song. I have posted it on Facebook now for ..read more
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