Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American Studies Center

The Chicano Resource Center arose in 1979/1980 out of planning efforts of faculty from the Mexican American Studies Department, the College of Social Work, the bilingual program in the College of Education, and the University Library. Dedicated in 1982, the Chicano Resource Center has provided a single focus for books, periodicals, reference tools, pamphlets, and clippings relating to Mexican American History, culture, and community.

Our latest project, Before Silicon Valley: Mexican Agricultural and Cannery Workers of Santa Clara County, 1920-1960. This collaborative project with public historian Prof. Margo McBane, along with a team of other individuals, documents Mexican migration, work, cultural life, and civil rights activism in Santa Clara County.

AAACNA’s first digital collection, the Acequia Institute Photograph Collection, documents the history of the Acequia Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to research, education, and program extension to support the flourishing of the acequias, or communal irrigation canals, farming communities, primarily Mexican American, of the Upper Rio Grande watershed in New Mexico and Colorado.

The Chicano Oral History Project at SJSU began in the late 1980s as a collaborative effort between the Mexican American Studies Department and the Chicano Library Research Center. Funding for the program was provided by the library, campus, and CSU Affirmative Action & Faculty Development Funds and CSU Research and Lottery Funds. Read more [PDF]

El Excéntrico was a Spanish and English bilingual magazine published in San Jose, California from 1949-1980. It represents the flourishing Mexican-American community and culture of the Santa Clara Valley in the mid 20th century.