Annotated Bibliography
“The Sob,” 1931
by David Alfaro Siqueiros (Museo:187).
Anaya, Rudolfo. La Llorona.
Novella interweaves the Mexican legend of the “crying woman” into the history of the Spanish conquest under Cortez.
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima.
Young boy describes growing up in a small Mexican American community, guided by the apparent mysticism of his grandmother, who still practices the traditional, healing arts.
Tey Diana (ed). Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, l993.
Humorous yet angry poem examines enormous differences between and reluctant assimilation of the American and Mexican cultures.
Berkin, Carol et al. American Voices. Glenview, Illinois: Scott Foresman, 1992.
California textbook on United States history that integrates primary sources, literature, and art into its delivery of historical chronology, with emphasis on the twentieth century.
Breslauer, Jan. “Drawing on a Dual Legacy.” Los Angeles Times, January 2, l997.
Short article about the Social and Public Art Resource Center’s exhibition and celebration of David Alfaro’s Siqueiros’ l00th birthday.
“Chicano, History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement” PBS Video, 1996
Four-hour series on the history of Mexican Americans; in four parts:
“Quest for Homeland,” “Struggle in the Fields,”
“Taking Back the Schools,” and “Fighting for Polictical Power.”
Cisneros, Sandra. House on Mango Street.
Short vignettes dealing with a young girl’s growing up Mexican American.
Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek.
Collection of adult short stories featuring different women in various situations representative of the Mexican American culture.
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Changeling” from Carlson, Lori M. (ed).
Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States. New York: Henry Holt and Company, l994.
    Poem describes young woman who dresses as Che Guevara and is told by her mother to get out of men’s clothing.
Delgado, Abelardo. “Stupid America” from Ravitch, Diane (ed).
The American Reader. New York: Harper Collins, l990.
    Short, angry poem about the lack of American appreciation for Latino culture.
Dunitz, Robin J. Painting the Towns: Murals of California.
Los Angeles: R. J. D Enterprises, l997.
    Full color photographs of murals in California cities, indoors and outdoors, including Siquerios’ boarded over “American Tropical” on Olvera Street in Los Angeles; Sergio O’Cadiz’ recreation of Siqueiros’ crucified Indian in “History and Evolution of the Chicano in the United States,” l974, in the Nealley Library of Santa Ana College; and Dean Cornwell’s “Freeing of the Slaves,” l932 in the Lincoln Memorial Shrine on West Vine Street in Redlands.

Galarza, Ernesto. from “Barrio Boy” in Adventures in American Literature.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, l985.
Essay describes growing up in a Mexican American barrio.
Goldman, Shifra. Dimensions of the Americas: Art and Social Change in Latin America and the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, l994.
    Chapter l: “Siqueiros and Three Early Murals in Los Angeles” for the history of “America Tropical.” Chapter 2: “Mexican Muralism: Its Influence in Latin America and the United States” to place muralism in a social, political, and historical context. Chapter 3: “Resistance and Identity: Street Murals of Occupied Aztlan” for a brief chronology of the U. S. mural movements from the l930s and l940 through the l960s and l970. This book includes black and white photographs of Siqueiros working on “Street Meeting,” and of “America Tropical” as seen from Olvera Street.
Helm, MacKinley. Mexican Painters: Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and Other Artists of the Social Realist School.
NewYork: Dover Publications, l94l.
    Book gives background information on the “Big Three,” the three foremost Mexican muralists of the l930s.
Herner, Irene. “Art and History, Not Ethnic Politics.” Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, April 7, l998.
Editorial page commentary defending the Getty Conservation Institute’s preservation of Siqueiros’ “America Tropical.”
Knight, Christopher. “A Turbulent Chapter of a Storied Career.” Los Angeles Times, April 6, l997.
Times art critic favorably reviews the Santa Barbara Museum’s l997 “Portrait of a Decade: David Alfaro Siqueiros, l930-l940” exhibit as a fine celebration of the centennial of the artist’s birth, and includes. much biographical background on Siqueiros.
Knight, Christopher. “Two Murals, Two Histories.” Los Angeles Times, February 20, l994.
Times art critic Knight describes in detail and critically compares Siqueiros’ and Cornwell’s murals, concluding that the restoration of “America Tropical” is historically and artistically significant.
Koning, Hans. Columbus: His Enterprise-- Exploding the Myth. New York: Monthly Review Press, l976.
Book recounts all three of Columbus’ voyages westward, incorporating significant primary source (in English translation) documentation into a highly critical depiction of Columbus’ exploits.
Krikorian, Michael. “Decades Later, Covered Mural is Being Restored.” Los Angeles Times, April 25, l996.
Brief article reports on the Los Angeles City Council’s actions to finance a viewing platform and protective canopy to coincide with the completion of the conservation of “America Tropical.”
  
LaViera, Tato. “AmeRican.” from Ravitch, Diane (ed). The American Reader. New York: Harper Collins, l990.
Poem affirms vision of a new generation of immigrants reconciled to assimilation.
Mittler, Gene et al. World History and Art Transparencies. New York: Glencoe, l997.
Transparency No. 40 features Jose Clemente Orozco’s “Zapatistas,” l93l.
Muchnic, Suzanne. “The Two Sides of a Revolutionary.” Los Angeles Times, March l9, l997.
Times art writer briefly reviews the historical significance of Siqueiros and recommends the Santa Barbara Museum exhibit, “Portait of a Decade.”
Museo Nacional de Arte. Portrait of a Decade: David Alfaro Siqueiros. l930-l940. Mexico: Museo Nacional de Art, l996.
Hardcover book includes clear, black and white photograph of “America Tropical” shortly after its initial unveiling in l932, and photographs of Siqueiros and Cornwell, and many color plates of his works, including the book jacket illustration featuring “Down but Not Defeated,” l939.
Museo Nacional de Arte. Portrait of a Decade: David Alfaro Siqueiros. l930-l940. Mexico: Museo Nacional de Art, l996.
Hardcover book includes clear, black and white photograph of “America Tropical” shortly after its initial unveiling in l932, and photographs of Siqueiros and Cornwell, and many color plates of his works, including the book jacket illustration featuring “Down but Not Defeated,” l939.
Olivas, Richard. “The Immigrant Experience” in Paredes, Americo (ed): Mexican American Authors. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, l972.
Poem wryly describes American heritage from a Latino perspective.
Paredes, Americo. “Guitarreros” in Adventures in American Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, l985.
Poem connects Hispanic culture with its music.
“Restoration of Mural.” Letters to the Editor, Los Angeles Times, Saturday, March l4, l998.
Three letters responding to the Warder commentary criticizing the expenditure of Los Angeles city funds for the preservation of Siqueiros’ “America Tropical.”
Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.
Book describes lives oft Mexican American migrant workers and their families in the l940s and l950s. Black and white film version is also available on video cassette.
Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.
Book describes lives oft Mexican American migrant workers and their families in the l940s and l950s. Black and white film version is also available on video cassette.
“Salt of the Earth.” 1950s black and white film depicts a New Mexico miners'
strike protesting discrimination against Mexican Americans which also raises the consciousness of the miners' wives. Film is notable for the number of actors and crew members who faced blacklisting for their participation in this production.
Soter, Bernadette. The Light of Learning: An Illustrated History of the Los Angeles Public Library. Los Angeles: Library Foundation of Los Angeles, l993.
This book includes photographs of Dean Cornwell painting from live models and of sections of the “California History” murals.
Soto, Gary. Living Up the Streets. New York: Dell Publishing, l980.
Short book describes contemporary Mexican American culture from a youth’s point of view.
Spero (ed.). Mexican Mural Postcards. New York: Dover Publications, l990.
Features paintings, mural details of works by Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, including Rivera’s “History and Perspective of Mexico: Repression,” l935 and Siqueiros’ “New Democracy,” l944-l945.
Sujo, Clara (compiler). Diego Rivera Postcards. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, l99l.
Features many of Rivera’s most illustrious works, including “Flower Day,” l925 and “The Flower Carrier,” l935.
“The Spanish Empire in the Americas -- Colonization or Exploitation?” from Candaele, Kerry (ed.). American Voices: Controversial Issues in American History. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and Company, l992.
Two brief excerpts from primary source documents by Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas, respectively defend and decry Spanish treatment of the Indians of the New World in the sixteenth century. Questions for discussion are included.
Venezia, Mike. Diego Rivera: Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists Series. Chicago: Childrens Press, l994.
This children’s book features biographical and professional information about Rivera and includes color reproductions of many of his most famous paintings and murals.
“A Vital and Important Symbol for the City [editorial].” Los Angeles Times, February 28, l994.
Editorial encourages Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to apply city resources to help the Getty Conservation Institute’s Conservation Institute complete the “American Tropical” project.
Warder, Michael. “The Getty Sullies Itself with Ethnic Politics.” Los Angeles Times, March 6, l998.
Editorial page criticism of Getty Conservation Institute’s efforts to conserve “American Tropical” raises questions about the matching tax dollars being expended and the ethnic divisiveness the project generates even today. See also, Letters to the Editor RE: “Restoration of Mural” on March l4, l998.
“Flower Carrier,” 1939 by Diego Rivera(Sujo).