Hi Everyone! I feel like all I've been doing this week is reading, online as well as books, articles, you name it. But this has resulted in a better grasp on the subject of my blog.
My interest in Maria Luisa Peralta has taken me in many directions. This quote written by Rosaura Sanchez and Beatrice Pita in their book, Conflict of Interest: the letters of Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, really describes my journey so far, they write,"archival research is itself a painstaking task; it is slow detective-like work, where one finding opens up new avenues of investigation often ending in archival deadends. Following up on different leads can become a daunting task, and establishing parameters is only possible after a critical mass of material has been gathered. (xv)" That about sums it up! I've been searching for valuable secondary sources and surprisingly I have found many I think can be helpful in one way or another.
So allow me to share with you my adventures as of late then I'll tell you what my subject is developing into. Last week, I searched for Maria Luisa Peralta and found that Oakland has a historical site for the Peralta family. It's great! So my sweet husband suggested we go check it out. Isn't he wonderful?! On Saturday afternoon, we got in the car and drove to Oakland.
I believe that I found alot of useful information there. It was interseting to me that they had so many pictures and information on Maria's brothers and her father but nothing on her mother, sisters or her. Only their names and birth dates, no picture. Not one. Holly Alonso, historian and director of the historical site, put together an altar on Maria's mother's behalf. She has found or hasn't that nothing is said about them in the history books, only that they existed. Now I should add though that some of her nieces are mentioned, there is even a beautiful portrait of them. I believe its because they grew up in that house. Alonso wrote a poem (that is mounted on the wall next to the altar) addressing the silence of history on the Peralta women. You can take a look for yourself at http://www.slideshare.net/peraltahacienda/peralta-family-tree-qa-book slide down to page nine. I've also posted my pictures of the house, the portrait and other things.
I believe I can use Alonso's poem as a secondary source. Now, as far as other sources, I went to the Pleasanton Library and checked out Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815 - 1848 by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz. These oral histories were collected by Hubert Howe Bancroft sometime in 1874 with the intent to document a thorough history of California while some of the old Californios yet lived. He hired the help of Henry Cerruti, Thomas Savage, Vicente P. Gomez and others to travel from home to home asking particular questions of the men who were part of California's history. What he hadn't counted on or even took an interest in were the 13 women who spoke in place of their deceased husbands.
Beebe and Senkewicz, have translated the Spanish documents into English for us to read and understand history through the eyes of these 13 women. They had quite a challenge in doing so being that some of the histories were written in English. Why is that a problem? Well, the women spoke Spanish but Cerruti wrote their words in English because that was easier for him. But as we know much is lost in translation. Therefore, they translated everything back to Spanish then to English again producing a more clear translation. They have attempted to present a work that gives the reader the story the women intended to relate.
Other sources I'm looking at:
Telling identities: the Californios testimonios by Rosaura Sanchez
Conflicts of Interest: the letters if Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton by Rosaura Sanchez and Beatrice Pita
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/projects/women/1Title.html
All of these sources deal in some form with Spanish-Mexican women of the early-to-mid nineteenth century. What I hope to find is a voice for the women of this time. What was life like for the Californio women? What were the societal expectations of women in those times? The history of the Peralta women might be silent but what I'm discovering is that there are many stories out there.
My interest in Maria Luisa Peralta has taken me in many directions. This quote written by Rosaura Sanchez and Beatrice Pita in their book, Conflict of Interest: the letters of Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, really describes my journey so far, they write,"archival research is itself a painstaking task; it is slow detective-like work, where one finding opens up new avenues of investigation often ending in archival deadends. Following up on different leads can become a daunting task, and establishing parameters is only possible after a critical mass of material has been gathered. (xv)" That about sums it up! I've been searching for valuable secondary sources and surprisingly I have found many I think can be helpful in one way or another.
So allow me to share with you my adventures as of late then I'll tell you what my subject is developing into. Last week, I searched for Maria Luisa Peralta and found that Oakland has a historical site for the Peralta family. It's great! So my sweet husband suggested we go check it out. Isn't he wonderful?! On Saturday afternoon, we got in the car and drove to Oakland.
I believe that I found alot of useful information there. It was interseting to me that they had so many pictures and information on Maria's brothers and her father but nothing on her mother, sisters or her. Only their names and birth dates, no picture. Not one. Holly Alonso, historian and director of the historical site, put together an altar on Maria's mother's behalf. She has found or hasn't that nothing is said about them in the history books, only that they existed. Now I should add though that some of her nieces are mentioned, there is even a beautiful portrait of them. I believe its because they grew up in that house. Alonso wrote a poem (that is mounted on the wall next to the altar) addressing the silence of history on the Peralta women. You can take a look for yourself at http://www.slideshare.net/peraltahacienda/peralta-family-tree-qa-book slide down to page nine. I've also posted my pictures of the house, the portrait and other things.I believe I can use Alonso's poem as a secondary source. Now, as far as other sources, I went to the Pleasanton Library and checked out Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815 - 1848 by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz. These oral histories were collected by Hubert Howe Bancroft sometime in 1874 with the intent to document a thorough history of California while some of the old Californios yet lived. He hired the help of Henry Cerruti, Thomas Savage, Vicente P. Gomez and others to travel from home to home asking particular questions of the men who were part of California's history. What he hadn't counted on or even took an interest in were the 13 women who spoke in place of their deceased husbands.
Beebe and Senkewicz, have translated the Spanish documents into English for us to read and understand history through the eyes of these 13 women. They had quite a challenge in doing so being that some of the histories were written in English. Why is that a problem? Well, the women spoke Spanish but Cerruti wrote their words in English because that was easier for him. But as we know much is lost in translation. Therefore, they translated everything back to Spanish then to English again producing a more clear translation. They have attempted to present a work that gives the reader the story the women intended to relate.
Other sources I'm looking at:
Telling identities: the Californios testimonios by Rosaura Sanchez
Conflicts of Interest: the letters if Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton by Rosaura Sanchez and Beatrice Pita
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/projects/women/1Title.html
All of these sources deal in some form with Spanish-Mexican women of the early-to-mid nineteenth century. What I hope to find is a voice for the women of this time. What was life like for the Californio women? What were the societal expectations of women in those times? The history of the Peralta women might be silent but what I'm discovering is that there are many stories out there.
