The University of Arizona Press
Date: Friday, February 14, 2025
Time: 10:30 a.m., MST
Where: Special Collections, University of Arizona Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ
Celebrate the acquisition of the Dr. Lydia R. Otero Papers in Special Collections on Arizona Statehood Day! Otero will speak about their collection, how it evolved over the years, and the significance of archiving these materials to make them available to researchers, students, and the public. Their lecture will be the first of the annual Arizona Insights: Historical and Cultural Legacies Speaker Series. This series will be held annually on Arizona Statehood Day to explore key topics in the state’s history.
Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Associate Professor Emeritus Lydia R. Otero, Ph.D., served as a faculty member in the Department of Mexican American Studies in the U of A College of Social and Behavioral Sciences from 2003 to 2020.
The event is free and open to the public. Otero’s book, La Calle, will be available for purchase.
About the book:
Otero examines conflicting claims to urban space, place, and history as advanced by two opposing historic preservationist groups: the La Placita Committee and the Tucson Heritage Foundation. They give voice to those who lived in, experienced, or remembered this contested area, and analyzes the historical narratives promoted by Anglo American elites in the service of tourism and cultural dominance.
La Calle explores the forces behind the mass displacement: an unrelenting desire for order, a local economy increasingly dependent on tourism, and the pivotal power of federal housing policies. To understand how urban renewal resulted in the spatial reconfiguration of downtown Tucson, Otero draws on scholarship from a wide range of disciplines: Chicana/o, ethnic, and cultural studies; urban history, sociology, and anthropology; city planning; and cultural and feminist geography.
