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SERIES XI: LEGAL SERVICES

 Series

Scope and Content

From the Collection: The Frank Sanchez Papers contain 13 alphabetically-arranged subject series, plus 4 series based on format of materials (newspapers, oversize, etc.). Researchers should check the format-based series for material relating to the various subject series. The largest series in the papers is "Community Organizing, Strategic Planning" which includes files for numerous organizations and foundations. "Political Activism" is also a significant series, containing most of the political redistricting materials of Sanchez v. King and later lawsuits. Additional documents on these cases can be found in the "Legal Services" series. The Sanchez Papers contain a wide range of documents, including personal notes and correspondence, organizational agendas, memoranda, organizational letters, flyers, brochures, newspaper clippings, newsletters, voting information, court documents, and numerous periodicals, newspapers, and published materials, as well as a folder of photographs.

This is the first collection to be processed for the Grassroots Activism Project (GAP) at the Center for Southwest Research, with special funding by UNM's Center for Regional Studies.

Series I, Civil Rights, consists of materials of a general nature related to issues of equal opportunity and race, along with organizational brochures, documentation, newspaper clippings and flyers describing local and national incidents of police brutality and discrimination against Mexican-Americans and other minorities.

Series II, Community Organizing, Strategic Planning, is the largest series in the collection and consists of letters, flyers, brochures, and reports from local and national organizations covering the depth and range of Frank Sanchez' grassroots involvement. Materials from foundations and organizations such as the Needmor Fund, the Youth Project, Campaign for Human Development, the Home Education Livelihood Program (HELP), National Network of Grantmakers (NNG), Volunteers in Services to America (VISTA), Re-Visioning New Mexico, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project (SVREP) are included in this series.

Series III, Correspondence/ Notes, contains handwritten notes kept by Frank Sanchez as well as personal correspondence about mixed topics in the series such as community organization, education, and politics and government which, due to their interrelated content, were not separated into other series.

Series IV, Economic Justice, contains primarily material related to local and national grassroots participation in talks with the Mexican government and Mexican labor leaders as part of negotiations preceding the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Government reports and publications from Mexico's political parties as well as Mexican labor organizations are found in this series.

Series V, Education/School Reform, includes educational materials on bilingual and multicultural education, as well as court decisions, legal correspondence, and school board election materials related to the Roswell Independent School District. The series also contains letters and agendas about local and national organizations involved in issues of educational equalization of Mexican Americans in Portales, as well as Roswell.

Series VI, Energy/ Environmental Justice, contains brochures, letters and reports mostly relating to the construction of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. General information about national efforts to protect the environment can also be found here.

Series VII, Health Care, contains letters and reports about the state of rural health care and community health services in New Mexico. Brochures and letters from local health care organizations such as the Chaves County Primary Health Care Planning Committee, and clinics, such as La Casa de Buena Salud, are contained in this series. Information about President Clinton's Health Care Reform proposal also forms part of this series.

Series VIII, Immigrant Rights, contains letters and petitions from local and national organizations regarding the 1980s campaign against immigration reform. The series also contains reports and correspondence against the construction of an "Alien Detention Center" in southern New Mexico.

Series IX, Labor Organizing, contains a wide rage of topics in the form of newspaper clippings, flyers, brochures and letters related to the Artesia strike, agricultural laborers and the United Farmworkers including articles about Cesar Chavez' visit to New Mexico, and the campaign against the Right to Work movement.

Series X, Land and Water Rights, contains correspondence and flyers from the Alianza Federal de las Mercedes and other documents from the Tonantzin Land Institute related to the protection of Hispano and Native American land and water rights in New Mexico and other parts of the nation.

Series XI, Legal Services, contains correspondence and court cases related to election districts discrimination, educational law and legislation, and the legal needs of rural communities. The series includes letters from organizations such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and Southern New Mexico Legal Services.

Series XII, Political Activism, the second largest series in the collection contains correspondence, flyers, voting records, and brochures related to local election district cases, most importantly the documents related to the landmark redistricting case of Sanchez v. King including the decisive U.S. district court three judge ruling. The series also includes materials regarding the 1980s Central American political crisis.

Series XIII, Religion and Social Justice, contains foundation reports and correspondence mostly from United Ministries in Higher Education. There are also letters and information about grassroots support from local New Mexican priests and parishes.

Series XIV, Newspapers and Periodicals, is Sanchez' collection of primarily Chicano newspapers from New Mexico and around the U.S., as well as other community newspapers from the U.S. and other countries. It also includes a collection of magazines and other periodicals primarily covering topics represented in the subject series of this collection. A wide array of newsletters from community organizations can be found within their corresponding subject series.

Series XV, Memorabilia, contains a small amount of artifactual material, including bumper stickers and ephemera.

Series XVI, Oversize, is made up of oversize materials from the various subject series, shelved with the collection.

Series XVII, Maps & Posters, contains materials from the various subject series including redistricting maps.

Some materials in this collection are in Spanish.

An addition to the collection was processed in May 2001. The series in this addition parallel the original collection and overlap in date and subject matter. Series XVIII, Audiovisual, was inserted as a new series to reflect new materials acquired with the addition. This series contains audiotapes and videos from the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, El Teatro de la Esperanza, and the Shalan Foundation. It also includes an audiovisual kit which contains records and teaching manuals on the history of Mexican Americans.

An addition processed in February 2015 consists primarily of materials relating to redistricting in NM, 2001-2002.

Dates

  • 1951-2008 (bulk 1970-1996)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 94 boxes (90 cu. ft.) + 2 oversize folders

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451