UnPacked: A History Talks Podcast from History Colorado

Manuel Gonzalez, Jr. is the son of Manny Gonzalez of the Northern New Mexico band, Manny and the Casanovas. Manny and the Casanovas were originators and pioneers of what is considered to be “New Mexico Music" --- music that has a unique and original sound and history. In this lecture, Manuel Jr delved into how the music and culture of northern New Mexico has inspired him as a poet. Manuel Jr shared his work, family stories, and a writing prompt so we can each explore our own roots and inspirations.

This special evening with legendary chanteuse Lannie Garrett was recorded on November 22, 2019, at the History Colorado Center in Denver. Denver fans and periodicals have voted her “Favorite Female Singer” many times over, and in 2016 Lannie was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame to cap her amazing, decades-long career. A veritable chameleon of an entertainer and singer, Lannie switches easily from a glamorous, sequined chanteuse to a blues/rock "get down” gal to a comedy spoof—as she dons a rodeo-girl costume and wig as big as a tumbleweed to transform herself into an ole-time country singer, as seen in her popular "The Patsy DeCline Show."

University of California, Davis, professor Andres Resendez examines the system of bondage that targeted Native Americans, a system that was every bit as terrible, degrading, and vast as African slavery. Anywhere between 2.5 and 5 million Native Americans may have been enslaved throughout the hemisphere in the centuries between the arrival of Columbus and the beginning of the 20th century. And interestingly, in contrast to African slavery which targeted mostly adult males, the majority of these Indian slaves were women and children. This lecture was recorded at El Pueblo History Museum on March 6, 2019.

The issue of gentrification in the Southwest has deep and broad roots, and with the introduction of H.R.6365—the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Land Claims Act of 2018—in the House of Representatives, a new call for an exploration of the methods of colonization is arising. Andrea Merida will draw correlations between the events surrounding Guadalupe Hidalgo and the current tenor of how gentrification impacts the descendants of the original indigenous people to this day. This talk was recorded on November 14, 2018, at El Pueblo History Museum.

Leland Chapin, the curator of the Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area, will share the background story of how he joined forces with El Pueblo History Museum to help bring a unique exhibition to life. In the quest to highlight some of the most talented contemporary artists working around the concept of Homelands & Borderlands, conversations with artists, museum curators and gallery owners shed light on a dialogue that goes back hundreds of years. Language, culture, tradition and environment are all at the core of how people have always expressed ideas about cooperation and resistance in this diversely populated and perpetually contested land. This talk was recorded on October 30, 2018, at El Pueblo History Museum.

National discourses about the border continue to generalize, stereotype and invisibilize the history of communities along the region. But many are unaware that borderland identities have emerged throughout history as a result of the loss of territory, immigrations, exile and deterritorialization. Borderlands Archives Cartography was created to visualize, document and analyze the junction of several cultures and the diverse histories of borderlands “to embrace our past and honor the multiple experiences of our communities.” The project uses a digital map to display a U.S.-Mexico border cartography that records the geographic locations of 19th- and mid-20th-century periodicals in order to conceptualize this region before and after the current division line. BAC’s objective is to understand the complexity of borderlands history, identities and cultures to resist the continuing discourses against this extensive region. This talk was recorded at El Pueblo History Museum on November 7, 2019.

Chicana author and scholar, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú uses images and poetry to chronicle her experiences growing up on the US-Mexico borderlands. In addition to reading from her award-winning Canicula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, she will read from her new book, Cabañuelas and her forthcoming poetry collection: Meditacion Fronteriza: Poems of Life, Love, and Labor. This lecture was recorded on March 27, 2019, at El Pueblo History Museum.

Mexican food in the United States is popularly thought of as a static thing that's either "authentic" or "fake." But the reality is far more complex—and delicious! Gustavo Arellano, writer of the syndicated "Ask a Mexican!" column and author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, gives a talk about the history of Mexican food in the United States, with an emphasis on how Mexican food evolved in Colorado. This talk was recorded at El Pueblo History Museum on October 18, 2018.

Museum exhibits don't just happen. The best are based on current scholarship. Saenz consulted with the Community Museums of History Colorado as a lead scholar for the Borderlands of Southern Colorado exhibit. He recently obtained tenure at Adams State University as an associate professor of history and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on historiography and historical methodology, world civilizations, European and Latin American history and Latino studies. He also serves as board president of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area, an affiliated organization of the National Park Service that promotes the rich history and culture of Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla counties, and on the board of the San Luis Valley Historical Association. This talk was recorded at El Pueblo History Museum, in Pueblo, Colorado, on October 4, 2018. It was presented in partnership with the Pueblo Archaeological and Historical Society