Three Decades of Engendering History

Three Decades of Engendering History collects ten of Antonia I. Castañeda’s best articles, including the widely circulated article “Engendering the History of Alta California, 1769–1848,” in which Castañeda took a direct and honest look at sex and gender relations in colonial California, exposing stories of violence against women as well as stories of survival and resistance. Other articles included are the prize-winning “Women of Color and the Rewriting of Western History,” and two recent articles, “Lullabies y Canciones de Cuna” and “La Despedida.” The latter two represent Castañeda’s most recent work excavating, mapping, and bringing forth the long and strong post-WWII history of Tejanas. Finally, the volume includes three interviews with Antonia Castañeda that contribute the important narrative of her lived experience—the “theory in the flesh” and politics of necessity that fueled her commitment to transformative scholarship that highlights gender and Chicanas as a legitimate line of inquiry.

"Antonia Castañeda's rigorous and passionate scholarship has been a challenge to her own generation of historians and an inspiration to younger ones. Editors Linda Heidenreich and Luz Maria Gordillo deserve our thanks for creatively designing this volume to include not only her pathbreaking essays but personal interviews that fully demonstrate Castañeda's spirit and her invaluable legacy."--Sue Armitage, Professor Emerita, Washington State University, and co-editor of The Women's West and Writing the Range "Castañeda's work is important theoretical work on gender/race/sexuality especially in the Spanish colonial era in California. Her subjects are Chicanas, mestizas, and women of color who were previously erased and silenced by historians. She has created a method to allow women to speak. The authors are to be commended for a most excellent collection."--Cynthia Orozco, author of No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed "The collection provides an incisive examination of narrative, ideology, and hierarchies of power, as well as offering insights to the process of scholarly production and community building within academia, by way of the conversations/interviews on the development of Chicana Studies. It is a 'must have' for any serious study of Chicana/o History, U.S. History, American Studies and Gender, Race and Sexuality Studies."--Barbara Reyes, author of Private Women, Public Lives, "Especially welcomed are the rich interviews conducted by Luz Maria Gordillo that serve as guideposts for the reader. . . . This collection on Castañeda's work is a must-read for anyone examining the history of the greater U.S. West and its Borderlands, women and gender, and the greater Americas. In brief, the collection is timely, instructive, and inspirational. It allows students to access the critical works of Castañeda in one book."--New Mexico Historical Review, "The inclusive design and tone, as well as imaginatively productive format, of this collection is a most inspired approach toward orienting current and future generations of students to not dismiss the feminist priorities of Chicana history as dated or obsolete. . . . [A]n invaluable and timeless resource that should be embraced with urgency and care."--Latino Studies, "Three Decades of Engendering History is a well-organized book serving historians, other scholars, and general readers. The work successfully communicates the struggles that Chicanas faced throughout history and continue to confront."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Linda Heidenreich is associate professor of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman, USA, and the author of “This Land Was Mexican Once”: Histories of Resistance from Northern California.