Literary Events (Page 89)

Literary Sala Presents the Early History of San Miguel

By Susan Page

Wouldn’t you like a time machine to take you back to the early days of San Miguel, to learn what happened here during the Mexican Revolution, during the Cristero Wars? What was San Miguel like for all those people who came here on the GI Bill right after the war? We know the outer colonias were not even built yet, and that there were few cars and many more burros. But under those surface differences, what was life like here? And how do all those old timers feel about all the changes? What were Stirling Dickinson and Felipe Cossio del Pomar like as people, as friends?

Kris Rudolph, long-time San Miguel resident herself and owner of Buen Café, spent eight years interviewing both men and women who have lived in San Miguel for many decades. Her book is a rich mosaic of personal accounts, detailing a wide variety of periods and experiences.

In a Literary Sala Special Event, Kris and some of her interviewees will present a program rich with stories about the early days of San Miguel. In a fully bilingual slide presentation, you will hear about a family who had to leave their farm and everything they knew when the dam was built that created the Presa Allende. You will hear about the time that Leonard Brooks was deported, along with other foreigners who were working at Bellas Artes. They were escorted to Laredo with an armed guard, because of “communist behavior!”

You will meet families who spoke more Otomi than Spanish. You will hear about men who worked in the gold mines with barely enough clothes to cover their bodies while the owners of the mines wore gold buckles on their belts.

After becoming acquainted with Kris Rudolph’s extraordinary collection of oral histories, you will view San Miguel with new eyes as you walk through its fabled streets.

This Literary Sala special event will take place in the Miguel Malo auditorium in Bellas Artes on Wednesday, April 11 at 6:00 PM. Admission is $100 pesos.