Celebrating Mexico at Stanford's Green Library

The Stanford Libraries presents "Celebrating Mexico" in two sections of the gallery on the second floor of the Bing Wing. In the Munger Rotunda the exhibition presents documents from the early years of the Wars of Independence: an 1811 "Reglamento de Policia" stipulates strict security measures for Mexico's citizens, while an 1813 sermon warns the faithful against the influence of "ecclesiastic rebels." One such rebel was Father Hidalgo, whose image is featured in a rare 1910 music score commissioned for the Centennial of Mexican Independence. Also on exhibit is a copy the 1824 Constitution, the first such document of the newly independent Mexican republic, based in part on that of the United States.

In the Peterson Gallery the events, key figures, and human and cultural impacts of the Revolution are richly illustrated with photographs, books, broadsides, and posters. A 1911 post-battle photograph of proudly-assembled revolutionaries is juxtaposed with Nellie Campobello's 1931 novelCartucho , which depicts the carnage of war; A rare dust-jacketed copy of John Reed's Insurgent Mexico, reporting on his "embedded" period with Pancho Villa's troops, contrasts with a poster of Marlon Brando as a leading Mexican revolutionary in Viva Zapata ; and photographs of female fighters--a "mujer valiente" on horseback, a young girl soldier draped with a bandolier, and an undated snapshot of a woman encamped with a group of male revolutionaries--show the ways in which women and children contributed to, and were exploited by, the war. Picture postcards for U.S. consumers, real estate marketing booklets, and Hollywood depictions of the events and key figures of the Revolution show how the Mexican Revolution played out in the North American imagination.

Celebrating Mexico at The Bancroft Library, UC-Berkeley

The Bancroft Library exhibition features original documents that depict the complicated stories that unfolded during these times. For the period of the War of Independence, documents include an 1817 account of the beginning of the Wars of Independence from the governor of Zacatecas; Costumes civils, militaires et réligieux du Mexique by Claudio Linati, which includes prints of Fathers Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and José María Morelos; and Viaje pintoresco y arqueológico sobre ... la República Mexicana by Carl Nebel, which details customs and manners in the first half of the nineteenth century.

The Mexican Revolution is extensively documented with correspondence from key Revolutionary figures such as Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and Venustiano Carranza, important published manifestos such at the Plan de San Luis and the Plan de Ayala, original photographs of the Mexican Revolution, and broadsides and posters illustrated by José Guadalupe Posada and artists from the Taller de Gráfica Popular. The issues of indigenous rights, land reform, the disparity between the rich and poor, labor rights, education, and freedom of the press are illustrated with original materials from The Bancroft's extensive collections.

Catalogue of the exhibition

A generously illustrated bilingual 80-page catalogue, jointly published by The Stanford University Libraries and The Bancroft Library, accompanies the exhibition. In addition to three scholarly essays and a complete checklist of each library's exhibition, eighty-six full-color and duotone images drawn from the collections of both institutions illustrate aspects of Mexican Independence and significant events of the Revolution, accompanied by descriptive text.

Visitors to Stanford's Green Library can purchase it on site in the Special Collections Reading Room (M-F 10-5). It can also be ordered through the mail by downloading and mailing in a publications order form.

Celebrating Mexico will be on display in Green Library through January 16, 2011. Exhibit cases are illuminated Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. The gallery is accessible whenever Green Library is open and hours vary with the academic schedule. For Library hours, call 650-723-0931.

NOTE: first-time visitors must register at the south entrance portal to Green Library's East Wing to gain access to the exhibition in the Bing (west) Wing (map of campus and transportation information).

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