"Desert Dreams: Mexican American Education in Arizona, 1870-1930" examines the educational history of Mexican Americans in Arizona during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era within the contexts of Mexican and U.S. Midwestern migration. In the process of claiming U.S. citizenship and preserving their cultural heritage, Arizona Mexicans actively pursued a bicultural, bilingual educational agenda for their children in contrast to the Americanization goal of industrial workforce preparation. Significantly complementing Southwestern social history and Latina/o educational history, the dissertation introduces Arizona Mexican educational attainment and broadens the established class analysis from an elite enterprise into a history of community initiative and individual interest. The dissertation identifies Arizona Mexican educational leadership---including over five hundred parents, students, teachers and elected officials---who utilized personal and collective action to incorporate themselves and their world views into the state's public school systems. Using records from national, state and local archives as well as oral history, the five chapters reveal contributions to public school founding, political struggles over Americanization and Spanish-language curriculum development, the race-based segregation challenge of Romo v. Laird, and the evolution of college-educated, Mexican-descent teachers including higher education participation and professionalism.
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