Since the founding of California's El Pueblo de San JosAA(c) de Guadalupe in 1777, people of Mexican ancestry have contributed to make San JosAA(c) a rich cultural, political, and economic epicenter. Mexican miners who worked in the local mines helped San JosAA(c) become one of the top mercury producers in the world. In the 20th century, Mexicans labored in the "Valley of Heart's Delight," as the Santa Clara Valley region was called, picking, canning, drying, and packaging fruits and vegetables for America's dinner table. They paid homage to their cultural heritage as they formed ballet folklAA3rico groups, established mariachi bands, painted murals, and wrote literature. Through grassroots organizing and collective action, countless heroines and heroes, such as labor leader Cesar Chavez, dedicated their lives to improving conditions in their neighborhoods and communities. In 1999, the City of San JosAA(c) acknowledged the contributions of Mexicans with the grand opening of the Mexican Heritage Plaza, a cultural center for the performing arts.

This sweeping history explores the growing Latino presence in the United States over the past two hundred years. It also debunks common myths about Silicon Valley, one of the world's most influential but least-understood places. Far more than any label of the moment, the devil of racism has long been Silicon Valley's defining force, and Stephen Pitti argues that ethnic Mexicans--rather than computer programmers--should take center stage in any contemporary discussion of the "new West." Pitti weaves together the experiences of disparate residents--early Spanish-Mexican settlers, Gold Rush miners, farmworkers transplanted from Texas, Chicano movement activists, and late-twentieth-century musicians--to offer a broad reevaluation of the American West. Based on dozens of oral histories as well as unprecedented archival research, The Devil in Silicon Valley shows how San José, Santa Clara, and other northern California locales played a critical role in the ongoing development of Latino politics. This is a transnational history. In addition to considering the past efforts of immigrant and U.S.-born miners, fruit cannery workers, and janitors at high-tech firms--many of whom retained strong ties to Mexico--Pitti describes the work of such well-known Valley residents as César Chavez. He also chronicles the violent opposition ethnic Mexicans have faced in Santa Clara Valley. In the process, he reinterprets not only California history but the Latino political tradition and the story of American labor. This book follows California race relations from the Franciscan missions to the Gold Rush, from the New Almaden mine standoff to the Apple janitorial strike. As the first sustained account of Northern California's Mexican American history, it challenges conventional thinking and tells a fascinating story. Bringing the past to bear on the present, The Devil in Silicon Valley is counter-history at its best.

San Jose is the "Capital of the Silicon Valley," the high-rise, economic engine of advanced technology. Yet it was once a verdant valley, inhabited by wildlife, waterfowl, and the native Ohlone people. The Spanish who founded California's first civilian settlement here in 1777 named it for Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the Spanish Expedition. Their farms fed the soldiers at the Monterey and San Francisco presidios, beginning an agricultural industry that thrived for nearly 200 years. Although serving briefly as California's first state capital, for many decades downtown was the somewhat sleepy commercial center of the Santa Clara Valley. A housing and population expansion that began in the 1950s exploded with San Jose's rebirth as a technological mecca.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1 The Last Galleons -- 2 Commanders of the Fleet -- 3 The Men of the San José -- 4 A Tale of Two Viceroys, One Captain General, and a World at War -- 5 The Last Voyage of the San José -- 6 After the Battle -- Postscript -- Appendix 1 The Spanish and English Calendars in 1708 -- Appendix 2 Treasure Registered on the San Joaquín in 1712 -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Z -- Illustrations.

"Today's hearing, as the title indicates, will examine the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign in hard-to-count areas. The hearing will assess and examine ethnic print and broadcast media's role in preventing an undercount. We will further examine avenues to aid the Census Bureau in its efforts to reach those who are more likely to be undercounted--children, minorities, and renters."--P. 1.

Ethnic Community Builders: Mexican-Americans in Search of Justice and Power is an oral history of Mexican-American activism in San JosZ, California, over the last half century. The authors present interviews of 14 people of various stripes—teachers, politicians, radio personalities—who have been influential in the development of a major urban center with a significant ethnic population. These activists tell the stories of their lives and work with engaging openness and honesty, allowing readers to witness their successes and failures. This vivid ethnography of a Mexican-American community serves as a model for activism wherever ethnic groups seek change and justice.