From Greenwood Publishing Groups’ description: The history and experiences of the diverse groups labeled Latinos in this country are abundantly documented in this major new collection. From the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1803 to remembrances of life on the frontier, to the Young Lords platform of 1969, to a discussion of Latinos and the war on Iraq today, this 3-volume collection showcases more than 400 crucial primary documents from and concerning the major Latino groups in the United States. Sources include letters, memoirs, speeches, articles, essays, interviews, treaties, government reports, testimony, and more. The voices include whites as well as Latinos, prominent and obscure, and Americans as well as foreigners.

My an adapted version of my 2004 profile of former California Assemblyman and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre appears in this milestone new collection. Here’s a little taste:

“Had a few things gone differently, it might’ve been Richard Jose Alatorre taking the oath as Los Angeles’ first Latino mayor in modern times, not the slick, cherubic-faced Villaraigosa …Had Alatorre not tried to house a little girl who lost her mother nine years ago, some grand building might now bear his name. Destiny, however, had other ideas. His storybook ascent from barrio kid to Hispanic political royalty collapsed in soap-operatic disgrace in 2001 with a graft conviction and drug allegations. He was banished to the Siberia of house arrest, his legacy tarnished no matter the heartfelt tributes from senators and do-gooders.”